


True Power

by ogeemattyb



Series: True in every sense of the word [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF!Stiles, Darach - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Major character death - Freeform, Pack Bonding, Pack Dynamics, Pack Mom Stiles, Protective Derek Hale, Protective Stiles, Puppy Piles, Scent Marking, Sexual Content, True Alpha, True Mates, alpha pack, mate bond, non-crazy Peter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-27
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-02 19:44:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 63,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1060839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ogeemattyb/pseuds/ogeemattyb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Boyd has gone missing, and after they get him back, the sacrifices start. Things are going from bad to worse and Stiles has no idea how to stop it. An Alpha pack and a Darach are messing things up for Stiles and the pack and no one is safe. Stiles has a lot on his plate and feels like he is being pulled in five different directions, but he has people who are relying on him and he won't let him down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So here is the start to the final part of my series. I am so excited to have gotten this far! I have never tried to write anything like this before, and I have never finished anything like this before. I am so close to the end I can taste it. I am currently writing the final chapter and then all that's left is the epilogue! Twelve Chapters after this and we are at the finish line.
> 
> Like season one and two this season will follow the events of season three. So you may find it a bit repetitive of the show, but I will be making some major Difference. Since Erica, Boyd, and Jackson stayed, thing will be different in many aspects. I won't be giving any plot lines away, but i will right now say that not all characters that died in the show die in my story, but also not all characters that lived will survive my story either. I consider the whole pack major characters, so just bare with me, and I hope you don't hate me too much.

An Alpha pack, a freaking Alpha pack. I mean really! We were able to have a somewhat normal summer but then it has to go and be ruined by some dumb group of Alphas. And the worst thing is, we don’t even know what they want. Well that would be the worst thing, if not for Boyd having gone missing. Yeah, that happened. He was going on a trip with his family right before Isaac found the mark at the loft. We all thought it would be okay. But then he didn’t come back. Erica went over to his house to ask about him, and his parents didn’t know where he was. They just assumed that he was staying with a friend. So we all played into that, and started searching. But we couldn’t find him.

I tried to use the pack bond, but it’s like there is a block there. I can still feel him, but I can’t get any emotion from him and I can’t even tell where he is. Location and scrying spells haven’t worked, Derek’s Alpha senses haven’t worked, and there isn’t even a trace of his scent to follow. Erica is going out of her mind with worry, and I can’t say that I am doing much better. She has spent almost every night with me, Isaac, or Derek. Usually more than one of us at the same time. 

We are pretty sure that it was the Alpha pack who took him, and that he has to be somewhere close by. So we’ve started searching the old fashioned way. Every night three people are out on patrols scouring the city, the preserve, and the hills surrounding Beacon Hills. But so far we have yet to find something.

The Alphas have yet to show themselves. We haven’t been able to find a trace of their scent either, and it makes me think that they might have an emissary, or at least someone with the gift, working for them. If that is the case, then I could be a secret weapon to use against them. We aren’t sure how much this Alpha pack has heard about us, but Gerard knew what Derek was, so it stands to reason that they do as well. So I have started to use some of the techniques Deaton taught me to conceal my power from others. 

Our first thought as to why the Alphas were here was for a territory dispute. That they wanted the territory for themselves, but from what Peter tells me, they are more nomadic than territorial. It is uncommon for and Alpha to act as such, but not unheard of. But more than one? Then we thought that they might be here as a type of werewolf police, a lot of shit has gone down in Beacon Hills in the last six months. Things that have brought unwanted attention to the supernatural community. But again that seems unlikely. If they have been here for as long as we think they have, then they can see that everything is under control. Peter keeps searching and contacting people he knows across the country to see if they know anything about them, but so far has turned up with nothing. 

Schools starts up, and it has been almost two months since Boyd went missing. It is getting the whole pack now. We warned Scott about the possible threat to the city. Derek still hasn’t decided if he wants to let Scott into the pack yet or not. And now with this new enemy, he is hesitant to upset the balance we have slowly created. I am worried for Scott, but if it really is Derek they want, then I highly doubt that they will pay much attention at all to him. 

Chris doesn’t like that there is an Omega in the city, but with Allison reforming the code they live by, he has been unable to do anything about it. The code changed from ‘We hunt those who hunt us,’ to ‘We protect those who cannot protect themselves’. Pretty noble if I do say so myself. 

No one is faring well though. Training is about the only thing that is letting us keep what small parts of our sanity is left. Peter and Derek have started more intense sessions about how to take down an Alpha. But it has also been decided that no one in the pack will make a kill except Derek or one of us humans. None of them want the Alpha power, and be forced to leave the pack. Derek doesn’t even like that the humans have the option to kill. As usual he is shouldering all the responsibility and blame on himself. None of us want it to come to that, but if it does, I know none of us will hesitate. 

Other strange things start to happen around town too. The animals around town start to act crazy. Lydia’s dog, Prada, bit her when she has never shown a violent tendency before. Then one night when Danny, Isaac, and Jackson are out on patrol, a deer runs straight into their car through the windshield. Dr. D told me a few days ago that all the cats he had at the clinic killed themselves in their cages. One of the weirdest things happen at school. 

A bunch of us from the pack share an English class. We got a new teacher this year, Miss Blake, after the not quite old enough to retire English teacher from the previous years, mysteriously disappears. I can’t quite place why, but I don’t like her. Everyone else is enamored of her, but when the pack hears me say that I am getting the same creepy vibes I got from Matt, they all start watching her a bit more closely. One day she is writing at the blackboard and a shudder runs through all the wolves. It is so strong that I feel it through the pack bond. I turn to look out the window and as I do a raven hits it hard and leaves a smear of blood as it drops. Behind that, not so far away, there is a huge flock of them all heading for the same trajectory. “Everyone, duck!” I pull Lydia and Allison over to me, and Danny, Jackson, and Erica all gather around us too, huddling in a circle gathering some desks around us. The ravens smash through the windows and everyone besides us is screaming and some of them are trying to run around. Miss Blake pulls a few students to her and tries to help protect them, but I am not getting a sense of fear off of her. 

I mean everyone else in the room is bathed in it, but she is strangely calm. On the outside she looks terrified, but the emotions she is giving off are a mixture of calm and a slight hint of relief. But now is not the time to examine what that is about. Right now, I am trying to figure out why the animals are going nuts in Beacon Hills. Yeah, this is only happening here. The neighboring towns are calm and have almost a lack of animal activity. 

After the last bird falls and the room is quiet again, we stand up to take in the damage. Lydia and Allison are pretty unmarked, so am I for that matter. But the two wolves and Danny look like shit. I dig in one of my pockets and hand each of them a small bit of wolfsbane powder to rub into some of their injuries. If they heal too fast it will be really suspicious. None of them like it, but they all take it without complaint. Everyone else is pretty shaky and the principle comes on over the PA to tell us to stay in the classroom as the Sherriff is on his way and wants to question us. Not that anyone will have any answers.

When dad does get there, of course it’s dad, he comes straight over to me to make sure I’m okay, but I tell him to go talk to the others first and say that I’m fine. He goes to Miss Blake first and under my breath I tell Jackson to listen to her heartbeat to tell if she starts lying. I can’t hear what she says, but her emotions again give off a different tune to what she is displaying outwardly. Jackson says that she doesn’t lie, but I’m not so convinced. Jackson wouldn’t lie to me, it’s not that I don’t trust him, I do, but I feel like she is. 

Chris shows up not too long after my dad does, and he pull Allison over to him to make sure she’s okay, and offers to take her away. She said after she came back, that her dad didn’t want to stay here and that they could go anywhere she wanted to. But she told him that she had to come back. That they not only owed it to the pack to help protect Beacon Hills, but also she is pack, and that this is her family. She couldn’t leave us. Dad approaches Mr. Argent and they share a few words before he makes his way back over to us. “So kid, what’s going on now?”

“Honestly dad, I have no clue.” I mean it, I don’t know. He knows that there is an Alpha pack in town, and that they have Boyd. I mean he has been officially filed a missing person as of last month, so we had to tell him why he is missing, but I am still trying to keep my dad as far away from this as possible.

“Stiles.” He says my name like a warning. 

“Seriously dad, I don’t know. This is starting to get a bit freaky to us too. Maybe it’s like how animals can tell when an earthquake is coming. But this time it is on a supernatural level. I don’t have the answers, but as soon as I do, I will tell you, okay?” He just nods and walks over to the other deputies that were questioning the other kids in the class, and eventually they all make to leave. We are all excused from class for the rest of the day, so when we get outside I turn my phone back on and see that I have a missed text and five missed calls from Derek. The others are gathered around me as I quickly press the call button. “Derek? What’s wrong, what happened?”

“First off, are you okay? Your dad called and told me what happened at the school. Is everyone alright?”

“Yeah, everyone’s fine. We are all gonna head out to the house. You there?”

“Yeah, I left work early today. But I think Jon might need my help this afternoon. Tell Isaac and Jackson to follow up on that lead we came up with for their patrol. I want you guys to start now. Whatever is going on, it isn’t good.”

“Okay, we’ll see you soon.” Jackson and Isaac go to Jackson’s car to start their patrol. Peter had picked up a strange scent down by the old business district. The rest of us pile into my jeep and head for the house. Erica wanted to go with the other two, and I don’t blame her, but she knows that she is too emotionally involved to be able to pick up on anything small. Dad has been really good about letting me stay with her at Derek’s. He can see what she is going through, and sticking close to the pack helps a little.

When we get to the house, Derek pulls me up to the study while the others get comfortable on the couch. “What happened? Your dad just said that there was an animal attack at the school, but that no one was hurt.”

“I’m not sure what happened exactly. Just a whole flock of birds, I think they were ravens, flew against the windows, and some of them smashed the glass and got in the classroom. I pulled the pack together and had Allison and Lydia protected, the others got roughed up a bit, and I had to give them a bit of wolfsbane to keep them from healing right away, but we were all okay.”

“Good, but why do you still feel uneasy?”

Sometimes the bond we have now makes me feel better, and sometimes I wish I was able to keep things to myself. “I-“

“The truth, Stiles.”

I roll my eyes and sigh, “I don’t like our teacher.”

“So you’ve said.”

“Yeah, well during the whole thing she was like, completely calm with it all. I mean she showed fear on the outside, but the emotions she was putting off were all wrong. When she talked to my dad I had Jackson listen to her heart but he said that it never changed. But I am pretty sure she was lying. I know you guys all think I’m crazy, but I can’t shake this feeling. I don’t trust her.”

He pulls me into a hug, “Stiles, I believe you. Do you think she has something to do with the Alpha pack?”

“I’m not sure. She isn’t a werewolf, but I don’t think she’s entirely human either.”

“Well, we’ll keep an eye on her, but I don’t think she is the main threat here.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think we should discount her either.” The only answer I get is a nod, and then we head back downstairs to the rest of the pack. Peter is off researching or doing whatever it is he does, and the others have started homework. With Danny and Lydia as friends, homework always comes before anything else. But that’s good. Isaac, Erica, and Jackson all benefit from it. Allison does okay, and I’ve always done well, I just tend to lose focus sometimes and end up writing papers on the history of the male circumcision. I swear when I was writing it, it all made sense in my head.

Derek ends up leaving not too long after that. Dad called and wanted to see if he could help get any insight into what was going on. There have been a bunch of other reports around town, so they are going to check it out. After dinner, Allison, Danny, and Lydia go home and Erica and I end up on the couch watching a movie. Derek comes home and heats up some leftovers. It all feels very domestic.

That is until Jackson calls. “Stiles?! Isaac and I got separated. I think the Alphas saw us snooping around and three of them started chasing us. I got back to my car and I lost the one that was following me, but Isaac is still out there, and I don’t know what to do.”

Derek has already grabbed his keys and is headed out the door, I am quick on his heels with Erica, but I hold up a hand and make her stay. “Get to the house. Erica is here and I want you to wait with her. Call and tell the others to make sure their houses are closed up tight. Derek and I are on our way.” I don’t wait for a response and just hang up.

“Stiles, I’m coming with you.” Erica is angry, and that is exactly why I can’t let her come.

“Erica, I don’t have time to argue. I need you to stay here. Get the salves and some cloths ready, if Isaac got attacked we will need to be ready to treat him. You know Alpha wounds are a lot more deadly than normal.” She looks like she is about to fight me again. “Erica!” I put a little force in the words to make her listen. “I know you’re worried, I am too, but I need you to keep your head on straight. You can’t handle this. I need you here. Do you understand me?” She takes a step back and breathes a deep breath.

“Yeah, I’ll have everything ready.”

“Thanks. We’ll be back soon.” With a quick kiss to her forehead I grab my newly crafted lacrosse stick and the sack that hangs by the door with my little vials of doom (Peter’s name for them), and head out to the Camaro where Derek is waiting. As soon as I am in the car he is speeding off. 

It takes about ten minutes to get to the spot Jackson told us they split. “I smell electricity in the air.” How he can smell that, I don’t know, but that probably isn’t a good thing.

“Which way?” he starts running at a pace I can keep up with and there are skid marks on the ground. Looks like a motorcycle. Then there are squealing tires and the sound of shattering glass. Derek grabs me up and we take off, getting to the opening of the warehouse just in time to see a set of twins merge together to make some kind of super-wolf. Without thinking I reach in my bag and grab the first vile my fingers touch, load it in my net, and launch it at him. It was one of my minor exploding ones. Good. Derek growls deep and launches himself at the wolf, and his attention is now on him. So I race to Isaac and a girl that is almost unconscious. “You guys okay?”

Isaac can’t focus, and looks like he is about to pass out. The girl that is with him looks at me with surprise, but then tries to move to her bike looking for something. The sound of fighting comes from behind me, but I can’t focus on that right now, I know Derek can handle them. So when the girl grabs at a modified stun gun, I take it from her hands. She tries to protest, but I don’t give her time to as I turn and face the giant wolf. Derek sensing that I want him to get out of the way, obliges, and I fire the gun at the mega-wolf hitting him square in the chest. As he falls over he separates back into the two twins. They are Ethan and Aiden. New to school this year. I’ve even seen Ethan flirting with Danny a few times. This is so not good. Derek advances on them.

“Derek, no! I don’t know what they want, but we don’t have time for that. We need to get these two out of here before those two come around, or their buddies come looking. There are at least three total, and I don’t really think we are prepared for anymore.” Isaac passes out while I am speaking and the girl follows him right after. Derek hesitates only for a moment before coming over and picking up the two of them and heading off towards the car. I pick up the packs off the bike and follow. 

The drive back home is tense, but Isaac and the girl should be okay until we get there so there is small victory in that. I send Erica a text saying we got Isaac, and that he should be fine, but to get the first aid kit ready because we will be having an unexpected human guest. By the time we get there Isaac is coming back around and I help him in as Derek carries the girl. 

Erica already has some spare sheets spread out over one of the couches in the living room for her to lie on. I set Isaac down on one end of it and move to start taking care of their wounds. Isaac seems to be fine so I start with the girl. I feel bad for calling her ‘the girl’ but we never did get around to introductions. Then Isaac starts to tell us what happened.

“It’s all a bit hazy. I mean I remember driving around with Jackson, and then picking up the strange scent. We got out to go on foot, and then we were being chased. I lost my phone so I couldn’t call for help, and Jackson left his in the car. So we split up hoping that one of us could outrun them, but they caught up to me.” His eyes scrunch up in concentration. “I can’t remember what happened next, I must have blacked out. When I came around, she was jumpstarting my heart with a set of jumper cables. We got on her bike and tried to get away, but the wonder twins caught up with us. Then you guys showed up.”

“So did you find anything?” Derek is pacing and looking contemplative.

“I think so, but… it’s all foggy in my head, I can’t…”

“It sounds like your memories have been wiped.” We all turn to see Peter standing in the entryway.

“What do you mean wiped?” I’ve not heard of this power before.

“It’s something mostly done by Alpha’s. The power to take or give memories. Very dangerous work, if done improperly it can leave lasting damage.” Then the girl gasps and comes to grasping at my arms.

“I need to talk to Alpha Hale.” Derek steps over.

“What do you need to tell me?”

“The Alphas are here for you.”

“You mean they want to kill him?” I am very worried. No one will be taking my Mate. No one.

“No, they want him to join them.” She starts to cough and Peter comes into the room with a glass of water. She sips it gently.

“I won’t join them. I have my pack, my Mate.”

“If you don’t join, they will kill you.”

“Who sent you?” I know that she isn’t just some random passerby. She was sent to warn us.

“I am just here to keep the balance.”

“What’s your name?”

There is a moment of hesitation, “Braeden.” 

“The Alphas will be after you. We can protect you, stay here and rest.”

“Only for the night. I have to get back to my pack.”

“You’re an emissary.” It’s then that I can sense the small amount of power that she is letting off. Wonder why I didn’t feel it before?

“Almost. I’m training to be one.” That might explain it. She hasn’t fully come into her power yet.

“Okay, we can give you some supplies. I wish you would let us help you, but I get it. You want to be back with your pack.” I look up at Derek with worry in my eyes. Bad things will happen if she leaves us, but I can also tell that her mind is made up and we can’t change it. She nods and falls back down and quickly lapses into sleep. 

“We need to call a pack meeting for tomorrow night. And make sure Scott is here. I’ve made my decision.” With that he walks off upstairs. Erica and Jackson help Isaac up to his room, and Peter goes out onto the front porch leaving me with our guest alone. I can tell that Derek wants some time alone, and someone should stay with Braeden just in case her injuries take a bad turn. So I make myself comfortable in Derek’s regular chair and start sending out a massive text to the pack about the meeting tomorrow, and one to Scott telling him to be here to hear out Derek’s verdict. I am pretty sure I know what it will be, but I don’t want to give anything away.

…

When I wake up the next morning Braeden is gone. I check some of our supplies, but nothing seems to be missing. I don’t know when she left, but she left unguarded. I can only hope that she makes it back to her pack in one piece. It’s Saturday so everyone will be here early for the pack meeting. Derek probably didn’t want to have it until later, but with everyone on edge we all want as much information as possible. So I start to make a huge breakfast for when they all get here. 

Allison, Lydia and Danny show up just as I am putting food on the table, with Erica, Jackson, and Isaac coming down the stairs. They all start to dig in, so I excuse myself to go up and check on Derek. Peter walks in as I get to the stairs and walks past me into the house. When I get up to our room, Derek is standing on the balcony, so I walk out and wrap my arms around him from behind. 

We don’t exchange any words, but we don’t’ have to as much anymore. With the bond we share, we always know how the other is feeling, and right now, Derek needs comfort. We are so close to finding Boyd. Isaac’s memories could be the final clue we need. Eventually he is ready to go down and neither one of us eats much, but we have to keep up our strength. When all the wolves eyes shift I know that Scott is here. So I tell everyone to stay and I will go and let him in. Isaac follows me. Ever since Scott truly became an Omega, Isaac has stopped trusting him around the human members of the pack. 

When I open the door, Scott is there standing at the edge of the clearing. He is pacing a bit and probably can’t tell why he keeps hitting that invisible barrier. That is where the boarder is for those who cannot come up to the house without invitation. “Scott, you are welcome to join us for the day.” Specific wording is very important.

“I can’t there is something blocking my way, did you put up a mountain ash barrier?”

“No, it is a ward I put up on the house, but since I have given you permission, you can cross it.” He takes a hesitant step forward, and another, and then returns to a normal gait. When he reaches the steps Isaac pulls me back and Scott walks up the last few steps. We lead him into the living room where everyone else is seated, having cleared the dishes from the table. Derek directs him to take a seat on a folding chair close to the entrance, while Isaac leads me over to the couch to join the rest of the pack who have all squeezed themselves onto the long sectional. Derek is leading this meeting. 

“So last night Isaac and Jackson found something on their patrol. We aren’t sure what it was, but the Alpha pack doesn’t want us to find out what it is. They chased Isaac and Jackson away, but not before they stole some memories from Isaac. Later when Isaac is feeling one-hundred percent Peter is going to try and retrieve those memories. Hopefully we will be able to find Boyd in the next few days with this information. Now you may be wondering why Scott is here.” With that he looks at the Omega, who seems to shrink in on himself. “I know that each of you have forgiven him for his actions against the pack, but I still want to take this to a vote. Who wants Scott to be part of the pack?” Derek knows I won’t raise my hand, but that I have forgiven him. As the other half of the Alpha pair it would be uncouth for me to take part in such a vote.

Everyone else though raises their hands. Even Erica and Isaac. Then Derek turns to Scott. “Now becoming part of the pack means a few things. I’ve told you them all before, but here they are again. You will listen to me and Stiles. If we give an order then we expect you to follow through with it. We will not order you to do something that you wouldn’t want to, but you do have to listen to us. In our absence Isaac is the head Beta. Same rules apply. You will treat everyone in the pack with respect, no matter your relationship with them. And if you ever do anything that goes against the pack again, I will run you out of town. This is a probation. You only have one chance here. Do you understand.” Scott nods his head. “This time you will submit to me. I can’t have a repeat of what happened last time you ‘joined’ the pack.” 

Scott looks like his is about to back out, it is natural for an Omega to feel like this when he is joining a pack for the first time. Derek’s eyes blaze amethyst and Scott’s turn a dull amber before a whimper escapes his throat and bares his neck to Derek. Then Derek howls and the rest of the pack follows and Scott joins in last, his eyes brightening a bit to a glow like they had before. With this done the pack, sans humans, descend on Scott to start a group scenting. He has to smell like pack if he is going to be pack. But things settle afterward, and talk picks up. Mostly filling in Scott on what has been going on lately and eventually a few people lead him up to one of the guest rooms. It will be converted into one for him over the next few weeks. He still has to earn the trust back he lost, but I can feel the bond to him stronger than I could before. Before he was just family, now he is pack.

Allison hangs back with me, Derek, Isaac, and Peter. She still isn’t really ready for this, but she knows that he needs it. So I take her hand and pull her outside so we can talk on the porch without being overheard too much. “You are okay with this right?”

“Yeah, I’m just not really ready for it I guess.”

“I get that. Plus things will be a little awkward won’t they.”

“Why, it’s not like Isaac and I are dating or anything.” She looks almost appalled.

It takes all I have to hold in the laughter. “I only meant to say that you two aren’t together anymore, and if he still carries a torch for you, then that will make things weird. I never meant anything about Isaac.”

She turns white then red so fast, “I just thought you knew, I mean with the whole empathy thing.”

“Well I told you guys that I wouldn’t use it like that on you unless is was life or death, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how close the two of you have gotten since you came back this summer. Lydia thought that the two of you would have been a couple by now, Danny too for that matter. Jackson doesn’t really care, Peter has just made a few quips about it, and Erica has been a bit distracted. But if it is something you guys want to happen, then it should. Don’t let Scott ruin something that could be a good thing for you.”

“You don’t think it’s weird though?”

“Not really. I mean you and Scott fell hard and fast. It was almost too much. Puppy love if you will. It’s the kind of thing that doesn’t really make it past high school. With Isaac, you are taking your time. The way you should.”

“I know, but I don’t want to cause any problems in the pack.”

“No, you’re just worried about being kicked out of the pack. I know you well enough now to know that. And you have nothing to worry about. We would never do that.”

“I know that, but I can’t help it.” She is quiet for a few seconds, “What do you see when you look at the bond between Isaac and me?”

“The last time I looked was at the bonding ceremony, and then it was still undefinable. There are many possibilities of what you two could become. It is all up to you to decide what the final outcome will be.” She nods and we stay out there for a while longer. Today is going to be a long day.


	2. Chapter 2

Right as we get ready to head back into the house, Dad calls me; I answer and wave Allison inside. “Stiles, have you talked to your friend Heather recently?”

Heather’s mom was friends with mine back in the day. She was probably my first friend. We even used to take bubble baths together. It was all very cute. We still talk occasionally, she even invited me to her birthday party last month, but I wasn’t able to go. We were searching for Boyd almost constantly. I felt bad, but when I told her I couldn’t make it because of family stuff, she totally understood. “No, I mean she had her party last month, but you know I didn’t go to it. Why, what’s up?”

“She went missing last night. She was taken from her room. We are trying to figure out how, but I think there might be something ‘special’ about this case. I mean how does a girl just disappear from a second story window?”

“I don’t know dad. And I really wish I could help you right now. I do. Heather was one of my first friends, and I really hope nothing bad happens to her, but we are kind of dealing with our own situation here. We think Isaac may have found Boyd.”

“Really? That’s great!”

“Yeah, maybe. He had a run in with the Alpha pack last night. So there is a warehouse somewhere that has some pretty hefty damage to it, sorry, but the Alphas wiped Isaac’s memories. We think we can get them back, but nothing for sure yet.”

“Well keep me updated.”

“You too. And dad-“

“I know Stiles. I’ll do my best.” We hang up and I make my way back into the house. Derek is there and wrapping an arm around me pulling me to him. He doesn’t say anything, and for that I am glad. Things don’t look too good for Heather, and I don’t want anyone telling me otherwise.

“Okay, so let’s do this.” I say with a bit of false cheer trying to get things going. Isaac takes a seat in the middle of the living room, the rest of the pack spreads out on the couches, and Peter takes his place behind him. 

“Now this is going to hurt, I have to sink my claws into your spine to access the memories. It will be hard, but you should try to hold as still as possible. When I pull away, we will both be weak for a few moments so someone be ready to catch me.” Peter starts very serious, and ends in sass. I guess we can’t expect much more than that from him. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” When Peter pushes his claws in I immediately want to rush forward and hold Isaac, but I refrain and tensely hold Derek’s hand in mine. It takes a few minutes of agony on both of their parts but finally Peter does pull away, and Erica catches him lowering him to sit on the coffee table. 

“What did you see, did it work?” I can’t hold back the questions.

“Yes, No. Kind of. Everything is hazy. It was like looking at things through a fog. I couldn’t see everything. He did find them though. He was running, and I saw two figures huddled together. Boyd and a girl. The only other thing I got was Deucalion.”

That name got Derek’s interest. “Deucalion? What does he have to do with this?”

“He, I think he is their leader. He said that they will die by the full moon.”

It can’t be. We need more time. “The full- That’s tomorrow night.”

…

We send the pack home to get some rest, and give us some time to get a plan together. I walk out with Danny and hold him back. There is something we have to talk about. “So you and Ethan have been getting close lately, huh.”

“Yeah, I guess. It’s nothing serious.” Danny and I both know that is a lie at least on some level.

“But it could be?”

“Maybe, what’s with the sudden interest in my love life Stiles?”

“Well, last night I learned a little something about Ethan. He is one of the Alphas. Aiden too.”

Danny looks instantly crestfallen. What they have could be serious, really serious. “I guess this means we can’t see each other anymore.”

“Actually, I was thinking the opposite.”

“What?” He looks shocked with a mild amount of fear.

“I’ve already talked to Derek about this, and while he doesn’t agree, he sees the merit of it.”

“What are you talking about Stiles?”

“I want you to keep seeing him. If you are comfortable that is, only if you are comfortable with it. Just play dumb about the whole werewolf thing. He can tell that you are friends with all of us, but us humans have a bit of an advantage where the wolves don’t. We don’t have to be involved in this stuff. They are probably trying to see if you know about us or not. And if you do, then they probably want to use you as a way to either get to the pack or use you against the pack. Maybe I’m wrong and he really does like you. I’m sorry to bring this up, but I don’t want you going any further into this relationship without all of the information. We need to keep you safe, but if you want to keep seeing him, know that we won’t stop you. Probably become extra protective of you, but we won’t stop you.”

Danny looks torn for a while, “I think I’ll see where this goes. If not for myself, then for the pack. I’ve decided not to take the bite, and I know what I can do for the pack, but this is a unique opportunity, and I don’t want to waste it. Who knows, maybe I can get him to tell me more than he’s supposed to, or just give us an edge over him.”

“Only as long as you’re sure.” He nods, “Okay then. I think you should take a few extra one on one training sessions with Allison. And start carrying that powdered wolfsbane I gave you. All it will take is one blow into his face and he will be out like a light for about an hour. Also, as much as I hate to say this, limit the time you spend with the pack. I know we are all friends, but you are still friends with guys on the lacrosse team too. Try and hang out with some others, just to make it look like you aren’t part of little group. It sucks, and I don’t like it, but it will help. And stay safe. If at any time you feel in danger, let one of us know.”

“Thanks Stiles. I get what you’re saying, and I will try, no promises though. You really are a good Pack Mom.” With a smirk on his face he starts to get into his car

“Dad! Pack Dad! And don’t you forget it!” As soon as his car is out of sight I make my way back into the house where Derek, Isaac, Peter, and Erica are still sitting in silence. “Okay, so we need to figure a few things out. First off, we need to try and get all of Isaac’s lost memories back. And I think we know just the man to do it.”

“Deaton?”

“Smart man Isaac. I have almost completed my training with him, but there are still a few things that I don’t know about. Most of it is stuff you have to learn on the fly.”

“But you have chosen what you are going to call yourself, haven’t you Red?”

Throwing in an eye roll just for Peter, I nod. “Yes, I think Guardian is not only fitting, but accurate.”

“Very nice, but I am still partial to-“

“Little Red.” Derek, Isaac, Erica, and I say in unison. Then just me. “We know. It gets old.”

“No, it stays funny for a multitude of reasons.” I roll my eyes and then make a call to the good doctor. As much as I grumble about the name, I actually do kind of enjoy it. I mean it is funny after all.

“Stiles, what can I help you with?” He says it in that tone that inclines he already knows what I will be asking for, but is playing the innocent no nothing that has become so common with him.

“I think you know already, so if we could just drop all the bullshit and get straight to it, I would really appreciate it. There are lives on the line here.” Derek is look at me with a scowl on his face. Maybe getting short with the guy who holds the answers is the wrong way to do this, but Deaton knows how much I hate it when he pulls this shit.

“Of course.” His voice takes on a more professional tone. “Do you remember what I taught you about the subconscious, and how to bring out that side of a person?”

“Yeah, wasn’t that when you put me in the ice bath?”

“Exactly.”

My mind starts replaying that nasty lesson. The water was so cold from all the ice, and Derek was pretty unhappy about having to help hold me under water until my heart slowed down. He told me after that he never wanted to bring me that close to death again. And now we will have to do it to Isaac. “Thanks Doc. Talk to you later.”

We hang up and Derek won’t meet anyone’s eyes. “What did you mean by ice bath?”

“Sorry Isaac, you are about to take the worst dip ever. But it should allow me to access the parts of your memory that hold what was taken from you. While you can’t remember, your brain does. Peter, Erica, would do us a favor and run into town to buy a shit ton of ice? Probably need about twenty pounds of it.”

Peter looks like he knows what I am going to do, and Erica goes just to be helpful. Throughout this whole thing she has been slowly fraying at the edges. Tends to happen when your anchor disappears on you. Derek, Isaac, and I head towards the basement and set up the large tub down there. We fill it with water, and I gather the right herb combination to help put a werewolf into a state of semi consciousness. Mint, Sage, and a weak strand of Wolfsbane. By the time I have the herb cocktail ready Peter and Erica are back with the ice and they start to dump it into the tub.

After all the ice is in, Isaac strips down to his boxers. “You know you don’t have to do this.”

“Derek, we don’t have any other options. If I can help then I want to do this. I have to.” Derek nods.

“Okay, now Isaac, this is not going to be pleasant. We are going to have to hold you under and you have to try and keep as calm as possible. I’ll help you. We have to get you to a point where you are just barely conscious. Then I need to be the only person who talks to him. Anyone else’s voice could make him lose focus and come out of it. If you think you can’t handle it, now is the time to leave.” No one moves, and I gesture for Isaac to get into the tub. Not wasting any time, he plunges right in. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” Derek, Erica, and I hold him under, the whole time I am sending calming energy through to him. He fights a bit at first, but then seems to calm somewhat and when we take our hands off of him he floats to the surface so his head is above water.

“Okay Isaac, I need you to tell me about the other night when you and Jackson were out on patrol. What happened after you split up?”

His voice sounds kind of detached when he starts speaking, almost like a puppet. “There were two people chasing me, I tried to hide, and found an abandoned building. But when I got inside, something felt off.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It felt like I wasn’t alone. Like I was being watched. But then I caught a scent. It was Boyd. So I tried to find him, but the building was a mess. There were so many scents it made my head spin a bit. Then I heard voices.”

“What did the voices say?”

“I don’t want- I can’t-“

“It’s okay Isaac, they can’t hurt you. Focus on my voice. We need you to tell us what you heard.”

“They- They were talking about the full moon. Something about them being out of control when it rises. Boyd and the other wolf were worried who they would hurt.”

“Okay Isaac, I need you to tell me where this building is. What did it look like? Was it a building or a house?”

“It was a building, big. It had lots of stone, marble. It was dusty.” Then Isaac starts to freak out, and thrashing in the tub. We all try to hold him still, but it isn’t working.

“Isaac, I need you to calm down.” But he isn’t he keeps screaming, and I know that he needs to come out of it, but then he does all by himself. He sits up and starts to get out of the tub.

“I know where they are. They’re being kept in a vault.” We wrap him a few towels and start to dry him off as he speaks. “Beacon Hills First National Bank. That is the name of the place. They are inside the vault.” 

We head upstairs and I get on the computer to see why this bank is abandoned. “So it looks like someone broke into the vault once, and as luck would have it, my dad was on the case. I’ll call him and see about getting that file.” Finally we have a destination. Now we just need a plan.

…

“Hey, dad, we need your help.” After my little bit of research on the computer, the five of us head over to my house to talk to my dad about the files.

“I assume this has something to do with Boyd?”

“Yeah, we know where he is, but we need a plan to get in. Do you remember a few years back with the robbery on the BH First National Bank?”

“That’s where he is?”

“Yeah, I know they patched up the wall where that guy broke in, but I don’t know how he got in, in the first place. So I was wondering if you might be able to get me the police file, and any other information you can remember.”

He sighs. “I knew it would come to this one day.”

“Sorry dad, it’s the only way.”

“I know. Just, I need a few hours.”

“Okay, let me know when you have them. We will be working out of the loft for now. It’s closer to everything, even if it is less protected.”

“Just make sure you stay safe. All of you.” He sends a pointed look at all of us.

“We will dad.” He leaves for the station, and I head upstairs to gather some supplies. Now that we know where Boyd is, I have a few ideas for how to help protect the pack from the Alphas. Just a few charms and medallions, but any kind of extra protection is going to be necessary.

We head to the loft and I start to get to work. The rest of the pack meets us there, and it only takes a few hours like dad said until he is dropping off the file. Now is the time to plan. I start to go over the information and review the blueprints. Peter is going through some things too, while the others try to not get in the way. 

Finally after hours of pouring over blueprints, police reports, and other paperwork, I think I finally have a plan. “Okay, so when the bank was robbed the robbers got into an air vent on the roof and drilled through the rock wall. It took them twelve hours to get through, and they siphoned off the money inside up through the vent.”

“Can we fit down the vent?”

“Yes, you should be able to fit down, but I’m not sure how you can get through the wall. A drill will take too long.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“What are you going to do Derek, punch through the wall?”

“Yes.”

“Really, you’re just going to-“ Then I think about it. With his strength, and the thickness of the wall. It takes me a few minutes to do the calculations but, “That actually just might work.”

“Good. Now who’s going with me?” Isaac, Allison, and Scott volunteer right away. Isaac really wants to bring Boyd home, Allison still wants to feel useful to the pack, and Scott just wants to prove himself. 

“I would, but I am still not quite back up to par since my jaunt with death.” Peter has gotten stronger since he came back, but everyone can tell that he is still weaker than he should be. Maybe he will never get back to one-hundred percent, but either way he will always remain part of the pack.

“I don’t think I should come either. I mean I want to, like really want to, but I think I would be more hindrance then help.” Erica isn’t as dumb as she likes to pretend she is. She had done a lot of growing up in the last few months. I am really proud of her and sling an arm around her.

“I’ll go too.” Jackson, like Allison, is still trying to prove that he belongs in the pack. He shouldn’t feel that way, but after all he’s been through, I can’t blame him. We are one big dysfunctional pack.

“Lydia, Danny, Stiles, I don’t think you should come. Allison either for that matter. We don’t know what the Alphas have done to Boyd and the girl. It won’t be safe for you.”

“Normally I would agree with you Derek, but not this time. We don’t know if the Alpha pack has an emissary, and if they do, you might need a human there to help out. I’ll stay behind with Erica and Peter, Lydia and Danny should just go home and act normal, and Allison should go with you. She will be better equipped to handle whatever you will come across, and she can defend herself. Plus I have some protection charms for all of you.”

“I still don’t like it Stiles.” He looks really concerned and he actually feels afraid.

I reach out and twine our fingers together, “I know. But this is the best option for all of us. I want you to be safe too. I know that isn’t an option, but that is why I need you to let Allison go with you.” He just nods and squeezes my hand. This is going to be dangerous no matter what, especially because we don’t know what the Alpha pack has planned.

They finish putting the plan together, and since they don’t know much besides how to get in, it doesn’t take too long. Lydia and Danny head out and go home, then when it gets dark, the others head out. I hand all of them the charms I made and then we wait. And wait, and wait, and wait. “I can’t take this anymore. My nerves are wrecked. Severely wrecked.” So maybe I’m pacing and jittery, it happens.

“I could beat you unconscious.” Peter always has to counter with something. I mean I’m no better sometimes, but not in this kind of situation. But I can’t help thinking.

“But why the bank? There is something up with the bank and why the full moon?”

Peter waves his hand dismissing it. “Maybe it’s poetic.” He is lounging on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table, and Erica is at the table going over the blueprints and info we got in the Bank.

“They’ve had two full moons to be poetic. This is the third. Don’t you think they would have done whatever it is they are going to do by now? Why wait?”

“You’ve only had on hour to go on, and-“

“No, go on with what you were saying.”

“What were the walls made of?” Now he is up off his feet and moving towards the table.

“What?”

“What were the walls made of?” Erica starts looking through the paper work.

“They are made of Hecatolite. Is that supposed to mean something?”

“Oh, this is bad. Very bad.”

“Why? What is Hecatolite?”

“It is a kind of stone that fractures moon light.” Oh, yeah, not good. My hand is dialing Derek’s number as fast as I can.

“Stiles, now isn’t a good time.”

“Derek, you need to get out of there.”

“What? We just found them.”

“Yeah, but the walls are made of a stone called Hecatolite. It disperses moon light. They haven’t been able to change for the last few full moons. They are going to be feral. Get out now.” 

“Cora?”

“Derek, what is it? Who’s Cora?”

“The girl, here with Boyd. It’s Cora. My sister.”

There is some talking that I can’t make out, but then Allison is yelling something about Mountain Ash and the line goes dead. “This is not good. Not good.” I can feel that they are fighting through the bond, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. But before I can get any words out a terrible scream echoes through my head and I fall the floor.

“Stiles! What’s wrong? Is it Derek?” Erica is by my side before I know it. Picking me back up and helping me to the couch. Then a punch of pure terror comes through the bond from Lydia, it is so strong, the world fades to black and I pass out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here I am changing some of the small things. Sorry that not much is going on AU wise. This sticks pretty close to cannon, so ware with me while i build up to the bigger changes.
> 
> And as always, thanks for your support, and please tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am updating today because I won't be able to tomorrow. So Happy Tuesday!

As I slowly come back from unconsciousness I see Erica looming over me. “Stiles! Are you okay? What just happened?”

“Lydia, it was Lydia.” She hands over my phone.

“She did call you while you were passed out.” I check my phone and there is a message saying that she found a body next to the city pool.” Not good, so not good. I don’t know what is going on with the others, so I guess we are on our own for now. 

“Okay Erica, I need you to come with me to pick up Danny and go to Lydia. You are gonna have to drive because my head is pounding from whatever the hell that was. Also call Danny, we will pick him up on the way. Peter, stay here and try to keep in contact with the others. We need to keep communication open through this. We don’t know if this body is connected to the Alphas or not.” Peter nods and Erica and I head out. Once we get to the jeep I call dad. 

“Son? Is everything okay?”

“Not sure dad. I don’t think the simple rescue mission is going to be happening tonight. I mean they will be rescued, just not the simple way. But when is anything ever simple for us? And then there is the whole, Lydia finding a dead body thing.”

“She what?”

“Yeah, apparently she found a body by the city pool. Erica, Danny, and I are on our way there, and I was hoping that you would meet us there. I want to see if this is regular murder, or a supernatural one.”

“Stiles…”

“I know dad, but this is how my life goes. This summer was so tame you have no clue. Now I am keeping you in the loop, do you regret it?”

“No, I’m glad you called me first. I’ll meet you there, and we will have to figure out a legal way to handle this.”

“I know dad. See you there.” We pick up Danny, and head out to the pool. It is on the other side of town from the bank, so I don’t think that Boyd or Cora have anything to do with it, so that is good. And yeah, Cora. Derek’s sister who mysteriously reappears just when the Alpha pack makes its move on us. Coincidence, I think not. I just hope that after tonight she makes herself trustworthy. I would hate for Derek to have to lose her twice.

Once we get to the pool I race out of the jeep to Lydia and pull her into a hug. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. That over there,” She points to the body in the lifeguard stand, “Not okay.”

I hand her over to Danny and let her calm her down some more, then move to the body. “Erica, start sniffing around. See if you can pick up any unusual scents.” Dad pulls up just as I get close to the body without tampering with the crime scene. There is a lot of blood, it seems to be coming from a slit throat, but it looks too clean to have been done with claws. So this was a regular murder. 

“Well, what’s the verdict?” Dad is looking just as intently as I am. 

“The cut is too clean to be claws. So I think this is a normal murder. Suck too, dude was a virgin.”

“What?”

I point to his purity ring. “He’s virgin. Sucks to have died before getting laid.” Dad just rolls his eyes at me before going back to his car to put the call into the station. “Did you get anything?”

Erica comes back over to me and we walk towards Lydia and Danny. “Nothing out of the ordinary. But then the chlorine in the pool is kind of messing with everything around here. And I am not the best nose. That is more of Jackson’s department.”

“It’s okay. If it was another wolf, you would have picked up on that right away.”

“Stiles!” Dad calls out from his car. “I’ve to go out on another call. But Lydia has to wait her to make a statement, then you need to take her home, and get home yourself.”

“Okay, and be careful dad. I don’t know what is going down with the others yet, so for all I know there could be some wild wolves out tonight.” He nods in agreement and then heads off. It doesn’t take long for a deputy to get out here with an ambulance to take the body back to the hospital, and for Lydia to make her statement. Then we get back into the jeep and head to Lydia’s house. Danny following in her car. “So what were you doing at the pool anyway?”

“I don’t really know. I woke up from a nap and needed some ibuprofen for a headache but we were out so I was on my way to the store to get some. I got in my car and then somehow found myself there.”

“So you don’t remember why you were so terrified. I literally heard you screaming in my head. It made me pass out.”

“What?”

“You really don’t remember?”

“Stiles, I wasn’t afraid of anything tonight until I found the body. Then I called you.”

“Okay…”

“Do you think that it might have something to do with whatever it is I am supposed to be?”

“What do you mean you are supposed to be?” Yeah, not something we have really talked about with the rest of the pack. So Erica doesn’t really know.

“Well, Erica, you remember how Peter bit me and I didn’t get all furry?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, we think that it means I am some other supernatural creature. But we don’t know what I could be. I have translated almost the whole bestiary and still haven’t come up with anything.”

“Well, tonight might give you a few more clues.”

“True.”

As soon as we get to her house we all get out and I turn to Danny getting out of Lydia's car. “Danny, I want you to stay with her for the rest of the night. If anything happens, let us know.” He nods and they go up to the house with a wave back.

“Now where?” Smart Erica. She knew we wouldn’t be going back to my place. But then I get a call.

“Hey Ms. M. What’s up?”

“Stiles, I need you to come down to the hospital. I have something I need to show you.”

“Okay? I guess I’ll be right there.”

“Hospital it is then.” I send a text to Peter asking if there is any news from the others, and his only response is that Boyd and Cora have gotten out and they are trying to corral them to keep them away from others until the sun comes up. It seems like it was all a plan to get Derek to kill one or both of them. What the hell is Deucalion’s plan?

It doesn’t take us long to get to the hospital and Ms. McCall meets us at the front entrance. “Hey.”

“Hey, over here,” She takes my arm and has a very forced smile on her face. “and if you tell anyone that I showed you this, I swear to God, I will kill you painfully and slowly.”

She takes me into the morgue to see the body that Lydia found. “Why do you want to show me a body that I’ve already seen?”

“Because you haven’t seen everything.” She uncovers his body and starts pointing to his neck. “You see this around his neck,” there is a bruise line there, “That’s a ligature mark. That means that he was strangled with something. Like a cord or a rope.”

“Okay, so I was right. Not very werewolfy to strangle someone.”

“My thoughts exactly, and then there’s this.” She turns his head to show a wound.

“What is that?”

“See the indentation? He was hit on the back of the head, hard enough to kill him. In fact any one of these injures could have killed him. I mean someone seriously wanted this kid dead.”

“Maybe it was just some random murder then.” I don’t even buy that. And by the looks of it neither does Erica.

“I don’t think it was just one.”

“How come?”

“Because that girl over there, she’s got the same exact injuries.” When she pulls the sheet back on the girl, I am shocked into silence. “The M.E. said this one wasn’t just strangled, it was something called a garrote which is a stick that you put through the rope and you just keep twisting,” I start to back away from the table and Erica is holding my hand and wrapped around my arm trying to comfort me. “and, Stiles? Oh my God, did you know her?” All I can do is nod. She covers the girl back up hastily. “I didn’t even think.”

It takes me a few minutes but once I am able to look away and gather myself I can talk again. “Her name is Heather. We used to be friends.”

“Okay, we need to call your father because you’re a witness.” But then I start to connect the dots. I have done a lot of reading about the supernatural and other related things since I stumbled into the whole thing with Scoot. And this is not good. Not good at all. Not if the pattern continues. 

“Has anyone else been through here tonight? Any-any other bodies or even any one missing?”

“Uh, no, no bodies but um-“

“What?”

“Two girls, they brought the first one in, Caitlin, for a tox screen, and then I overheard that her girlfriend Emily, just disappeared. I mean they were out in the woods.”

“And nobody’s found her yet?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, were? I have to talk to her.”

“Why?”

“Because I think I know what’s happening and I need to confirm it.”

She leads us through the hospital and when we get to her room, the girl, Caitlin, looks pretty shook up.

“Hey, I know the last thing you want to be doing is answering random questions to a stranger, but I want to help find Emily. What were you guys doing out in the woods tonight?”

She looks shaken and scared. I feel really bad to be asking these kinds of personal questions, but it is majorly important. “We were trying to be romantic. We’ve been together for three months. It was our anniversary. She lives at home, and I have nosy roommates. We just wanted to be alone. It was going to be her first time. It was supposed to be special.”

There isn’t much I can say after that. What can you say to someone who just lost the person they love. Because now I know for sure that I’m right. I really wish I wasn’t but the way they are being killed and the fact that it was three virgins, well this is all leading up to one thing. We walk out into the hallway, and as I turn to tell Mr. M and Erica what I figured out, a bout of immense pain washed through me. It hurts so much it makes me fall to my knees. 

Derek is being ripped to shreds and I am helpless, again. “Stiles! What’s wrong? Is it Derek again?” All I can do is nod. They move me to an empty room, and set me on the bed. I need to help Derek, but I don’t know how. So I reach through the bond and try to lend him my strength, I let my love for him pour through and hope, and will, and believe that it will be enough to save him from whatever torment is afflicting him. “Stiles, what is going on?” I can feel scratches on my skin starting to form. Then a few of them open up and start to bleed. Erica is trying to ease some of the pain from me, but it isn’t working. This isn’t my pain, its Derek’s. I hold on for as long as I can, then I feel the sun on my skin coming in through the window. The scratching stops and Ms. M. is dabbing at the open wounds crisscrossing my whole upper body. They must have removed my shirt at some point to get to them. 

Then my phone is ringing. My strength is waning, but I am still able to swipe my finger across the screen to pick up. “Hey, sourwolf, you okay?”

“Stiles, what did you do!” There is fear and worry coming through the bond.

“Nothing you wouldn’t have done. I’m fine. It’s just a flesh wound.” He makes a growling noise. Clearly now is not the time for jokes. “Derek, really, I’m okay. Just a few scratches. No big. You should get Boyd and Cora back to the house. Make sure they’re okay. We’ll be there soon.”

“NO! Stay there. I’m on my way. Erica, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” The power of the Alpha comes through in his voice, and Erica winces a bit at it. He doesn’t use it often, but when he does, well, we never expect it. Derek doesn’t run a dictatorship. The others know that, so when he does use it, there are usually no complaints. 

“Sure thing. Just get here soon.” She is probably just itching to get to Boyd. I don’t blame her either. I know how that feeling goes, I just hope I never have to feel it for the amount of time she has.

He hangs up and not even five minutes later he is banging the door open to the room we are in, and rushing to my side. “Stiles, what were you thinking!”

“Hi Derek. Nice to see you too. No, I’m fine, just relaxing in this uncomfortable hospital bed. How are you?” His shirt is ripped on both shoulders. It looks more like a tank top now than a t-shirt. A low growl comes from his chest and then he is on the bed with me wrapped around me nuzzling at my neck and licking at the wounds. Ms. M leaves, and for that I am glad. It is a little awkward, I mean she is like a second mom to me after all. Erica makes a distressed sound after she leaves. “Erica, I’m fine. Why don’t you go and look after Boyd.” The words only just leave my mouth before she is out the door leaving just me and Derek in the room. The night has chilled a bit and his warm body is a welcome comfort around me.

“You shouldn’t have done that Stiles.” His voice is softer now, calmer. “I would have been fine. They couldn’t have killed me.”

“Even so, if our roles were reversed, you know that you would have done the same for me. All I did was take a bit of the pain from you. I wasn’t actually sure it would work. But now that you are here, these cuts will heal up in no time. Perks of being mates with a werewolf. Did you know that prolonged periods of contact can help a mated pair heal?” he grunts in acknowledgement. “Of course you do.” We are content to lie there for a while longer while we heal, but I have to share what I have found with him. “So while you were out collecting the puppies, Lydia decided to show off a new super power.”

He lifts his head to look at me. “What?”

“Well, I mean, she is immune to the bite right? We think that she is some kind of supernatural creature, but we really have no idea what she is. She hasn’t given us any clues as to what it might be, until tonight that is. After I got hung up on by you guys, I felt a terrible fear from her. It was so strong that it knocked me out cold. When I came to she had left me a message saying that she found a dead body at the public pool. So Erica, Danny, and I left to go and help her out. When we got there, she was a mess. I called my dad and had him come down too. I thought that maybe Boyd or Cora could have gotten out, but then this was on the other side of the city, and even if they did, then they wouldn’t have had enough time to get across town to slit the guy’s throat. Then I thought maybe the Alpha pack, but after I got a good look at the cut I saw that it was too clean. Meaning that no claws were used. It was a knife. And why would they stoop to use a knife when their own fingers are mini daggers all on their own? It wasn’t until I dropped Lydia and Danny off that I got a call from Ms. M. She wanted me to come here to show me something.”

“She took me to the morgue to show me the two dead bodies that have matching wounds. And if I am right, then that girl who is across the hall from us, well her girlfriend will have been the third. I mean they officially haven’t recovered the body yet, but she went missing in the woods. I really hope I’m wrong here, but if I’m not then we have another problem going on besides the Alpha pack. If I’m right, then someone is making ritual sacrifices.” Derek stills his gentle ministrations on my exposed skin at that. “The three that were killed were all virgins, and I am not sure if it will stop at three. The kind of sacrifice this person is making is called the Three Fold Death. Three separate injuries, all three of them fatal. Strangled, throats slashed, and heads bashed in. I don’t know what it’s for, but it’s not good.”

He was quite through all of my talking, but he was listening closely to every detail. Tonight has been rough on all of us. But we all made it through alive. “Your teacher saw us.”

“What?! How? Which teacher?”

“I think it’s your new English teacher. Morrell trapped us in the vault with mountain ash.”

“MORRELL! You mean our guidance counselor slash French teacher. Sister to Dr. D., Morrell?”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck. She must be the Alpha’s emissary. That means they have been watching us for a long time. She showed up about the time the Kanima was running around. She was helping us I thought. This is so messed up.” Derek growls in anger. “Sorry, but don’t worry about her. If she tries to make any more trouble I will be having some serious words with her.”

“Stiles.”

“No, that is what I am supposed to do. That is my role in the pack and I will fulfill it. But I doubt she will make the same mistake twice. Not if she has learned anything about me anyway. Now get back to what you were saying.”

He grumbles a bit more but does pick back up into telling the events that happened to him tonight. “Allison had to break the line to let them go. Then we had to chase them through the woods. They nearly killed a couple of kids that were out catching fireflies. But we got to them in time, and they didn’t kill anyone. Allison had an idea to try and trap them and wait out the sun, so we herded them to the school. The furnace room has a metal door that they couldn’t break through, and we thought that no one would be at the school that late. But after we had them locked in, we realized that there was third heartbeat. So I went in and held them off.” My hands come up and start to trace the fading lines on his shoulders, and then lay my palm flat over his heart and feel it beat beneath the skin. He calls me reckless. “After the sun came up, I had the others get Boyd and Cora out of there, and I went to check on your teacher. She was pretty shaken up, but I think she’ll be fine. I don’t think she’ll tell anyone.”

“Then you called me and rushed here. My knight in shining armor. But just so you know, I refuse to be the damsel in distress here. Actually, I think I have filled the role of knight more often than you in our relationship.”

“You know how I know you are going to be okay?”

“How?” He is trying not to smirk at me, but I don’t even think about not smiling back.

“Your mouth just won’t stop moving, letting all kinds of falsehoods fall from it.”

“Well then, I guess it’s up to you to make it stop.” And he does. Kissing is amazing. Why we didn’t start like this is beyond me at this point. But we have a pack to take care of and lying in a hospital bed is not going to get anything accomplished. So I have to be the strong one and pull away. “As much as I would love to continue this conversation, we should be getting back to the house. We got Boyd back. And your sister.” I’m not sure how that’s possible. Derek was sure that everyone but Laura and Peter died in the fire. If she is just a pawn or working with the Alpha pack, then, well, I don’t know what I’m going to do, but it won’t be pretty. Derek has suffered enough in his life, and while I will be more than willing to accept her into the pack, I am also going to keep a close eye on her. I am pretty sure that Derek will welcome her with open arms, and he won’t question her at all being too happy to have another family member back. But I am going to be wary, and I am pretty sure that I won’t be the only one.

We get up and leave the hospital saying goodbye to Ms. M as we go. The drive back to the house is short, neither one of us want to be away from the pack any longer. Especially since Boyd is finally home. Once we get there and inside, the whole pack is spread out on the floor in the living room on giant cushions we bought specifically for puppy piles. Boyd is half conscious and has Erica smothered all over him. Cora is on the couch being tended to by Peter. I can tell Derek is torn, but Boyd has been missing for too long, so I pull him with me to the floor and squeeze space in for us right next to him. 

Erica moves off just a bit so I can scent him and let him scent me, then Derek, and the rest of the pack pushes in closer. Everyone is so happy and content that I have to close off some of their emotions drifting through the bond. But I leave Derek’s wide open and curl into him for the first time in weeks. The search has kept us so busy that there really hasn’t been any time for us to have any real alone time together. I mean we have been alone, but sexy times have been put on hold. I just hope that we have enough time to relax a bit with the pack to get some happiness back. Things are not going well, and Derek didn’t do what the Alpha pack wanted him to, so I know there is going to be some kind of retribution. I just hope that it is something we can deal with. 

Plus we have a new pack member. And I don’t know how that will sit with everyone. But there is no doubt in my mind that Derek will welcome her with open arms. Hopefully she will be forthcoming with what she has been up to for the last six years. I don’t see anyone earning any trust from her if she doesn’t. And without any trust from the rest of the pack, I don’t know how welcome she will be. I hope for Derek and Peter’s sakes that she is willing to open up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So again, nothing major in the way of changes, just who is where and why. But I do expand on the bond a bit more. This part of the series isn't called True Power for nothing! Then I had to give a bit of Derek sass. I don't think I have done it enough for this fic. I also had to put in a bit of distrust toward Cora. They never question her, not seriously, and that always bothered me. I mean I know that she is Derek's sister, but not knowing what happened to her and everything that she was up to, she could have been working with the Alpha pack for all they knew. So Distrust I give you.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think! Love to hear what you have to say!


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days go by pretty quickly. Derek goes to talk to Miss Blake and it goes as smoothly as I thought it would. She freaks out. Or at least that is what Derek says. I guess he turned on the charm, and she swoons. I mean who wouldn’t with a smile like that. She just better not get any ideas. Derek’s not the only one who can be a little territorial. But she said she wouldn’t tell anyone so I guess I will just have to keep an eye on her. She only knows that werewolves are a real thing, not who the others are or that I am connected to the pack. She shouldn’t cause any trouble for us. 

I have a session with Deaton and that doesn’t go at all the way I thought it would. “What do you mean you’re done teaching me? This doesn’t have anything to do with your sister being the emissary for the Alpha pack does it?” Instantly I am suspicious of his motives. How could I not be?

“No, Stiles, this has nothing to do with that. You have learned everything I have to teach you. Our time together is at an end.” There is a smile on his face and I can tell it’s genuine. 

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“How… I mean, what?”

“Stiles, I told you when you first came to me that there is only so much I can teach you. Some things you would have to learn on your own, and now you are at the point where I have nothing more to offer you. Now it is time for you move on to more self-study. I will still help in any way I can, but it is up to you now.”

“Yeah, about that… You knew your sister was the emissary for the Alpha pack, don’t even try to deny it. Why didn’t you tell us? She showed up here while all the Kanima stuff was going on, and I realize that, that was not the right time to drop that bomb. But that was more than six months ago. What the hell is that about?” I am trying to stay calm, but it is really hard to.

“Yes, I knew. But there were larger forces at work.”

“I call bullshit.”

“Stiles-“

“No, now that I am done learning from you, I think it’s time you’ve heard what I have to say. The whole time all this was going on, not just the Alpha pack, but all of the things that have made our lives hell for the last year, you knew what was going on. Scott worked for you. He didn’t trust Derek, but he did trust you, and you did nothing. Not a damn thing. You used to the emissary for the Hale pack, yet the whole time Derek was here, you did nothing to help him. You told me it’s our role to guide others, but all you did was sit on the sidelines and watch as we almost got ourselves killed. So many times you could have helped us without our asking you. So many times we could have saved more lives. I hope you can live with yourself, because after all the crap you pulled, I know I wouldn’t be able to. And really, I don’t care or want to hear whatever excuses or reasons you give me. In the end it’s all bullshit. If one of your gifts is prophecy or whatever, then you knew that I would react like this. So next time you have some useful information that is definitely gonna happen, share with the rest of the class. Otherwise don’t try and help at the last second and come across as the one with all the answers. Because if you really did have them, then you wouldn’t have to save the day like that every time. So thanks, but I’m out.” I don’t give him a chance to respond, and just leave. I know that some of the things that have happened he couldn’t have known about, but the others, like the Alpha pack, he should have told us. But now it’s done. He knows what he has put us through, and it’s time to move on. There are more important things going on that we have to deal with.

Boyd has recovered enough to return to school. It is helping to put everyone’s minds at ease. But Cora’s integration into the pack isn’t going so well. She refuses to talk to anyone but Derek, and won’t stay in the house. Which means that Derek won’t stay in the house. They are at the loft almost all the time, and that worries me. It isn’t protected like the house is, and with Derek missing the rest of the pack is a little on edge. I can see why living there might be hard for her, but at the same time Derek remodeled the house to be different from the old one. Hopefully she can get over whatever it is that is stopping her and soon.

…

Scott comes up to me as we are getting ready for cross country practice, or how I like to put it, running, running, and more running. I actually don’t mind so much, and joined of my own free will. Isaac, Scott, and Jackson had to join because Finnstock makes all the lacrosse players join in the off season to keep them in tip top shape. Allison and Erica joined with me too. Erica needed a distraction from Boyd being gone, and Allison just wanted to do something with the pack. We still run together in the mornings, but we try to always have a wolf with us, or run in populated areas now. We never know what the Alpha pack’s next move is going to be.

He stars telling me about a client they had a the clinic last night and how he went missing. Starting to get a bit worried about it. “We looked everywhere for him. It’s like he just walked away, left his car, his dog.”

“Okay? Was there anything weird about him?”

“Weird how?”

“I don’t know, like was he about to be sacrificed?”

“How would I know that?”

“Maybe there’s a smell? I don’t Scott. I am just trying to make the pattern and I’m not sure what it is yet. It’s not something that is easy to piece together.”

“I know that, but how am I to know if he was sacrificed?”

I let out a sigh. “You’re not. Sorry, this whole thing is just testing my patience.”

“Dude, I get it, but if anyone can figure it out, it’s you.”

“Maybe, but how long will it take, and how many people will die before that happens?” Our conversation comes to a stop after that because Finnstock comes in and starts ranting off that he doesn’t want the lacrosse players to slouch off. That doesn’t really work as well when a few of the guys have their shirts off and are pretty well toned. But no one puts up a fight. 

We head out to the trails behind the school to get ready for the run, and when we get there the twins are stretching and dressed in track pants. Erica and Jackson start to growl but a sharp look from me quiets them, at least until we get the go to start and the twins take off faster than they should. That gets Erica riled up even more. She lets out a small growl then follows in hot pursuit. The other wolves take off to try and catch up to stop her from fighting them, and Allison and I follow as fast as we can. It takes us a few minutes but we do catch up, but by then they are done fighting, and staring at the body that is tied up to the tree. A quick once over of the body and I can tell that he is indeed a sacrifice. 

“Dude, that is the guy from the shelter last night.” Scott leans over to whisper in my ear, we move ourselves away from the growing crowd now. The twins react strangely.

“Do you see Ethan and Aiden? They don’t have a clue what this is either. That is at least one good thing, the Alphas are as in the dark about this as we are.”

“Yeah, but this means we are probably fighting two enemies here. That is not so good.” Isaac is right. That isn’t good. Our track record right now of dealing with two threats hasn’t gone so great, but this time things are different. The pack is solidified, and we are working well together, not the broken mess we were before. But this time our enemies seem to be much stronger. I hate messes. I seem to be the one always cleaning up after them.

Dad shows up not too long after that. He just wants us to all go back to school. He didn’t like it when I told him that there is someone sacrificing people, but it also gives him a lead however minute it is. He also called Derek in on this one so he can assist with the case if more people end up dead in this manner. Looks like his services will be required after all.

So we do what the Sheriff wants and head back to school. All though I don’t know how I will be able to concentrate on anything that isn’t supernatural. It just keeps getting shoved in my face.

…

School starts and the day progresses pretty normally, that is until things go haywire. The twins taunt Isaac into getting a detention by making it look like he beat one of them up. Allison got detention from Morrell for falling asleep in class and that doesn’t sound like Allison at all. They were both given lunch detention, and I know I don’t have to say anything to have them look out for each other. But then on the way to lunch I can tell something is wrong. Derek is fighting someone. He is a ball of rage. This is not good. Lydia, Erica, and Jackson are with me when this happens. They can all tell something is wrong, but it isn’t until I drop in the middle of the hallway that they know for sure. I am barely able to move and I am getting flashes of what is happening to Derek, and flashes of what is going on around me. They got me to a bathroom and locked the door so no one would come in.

But Derek. The woman, Kali is her name, she spiked a pipe through his chest, and Ennis, the other guy, has Cora in a vice grip. I can’t hear everything that they are saying but whatever it is, it isn’t good. Deucalion keeps going on and on about power, and packs, and I can’t follow him really.

“Stiles! Come on, what is happening? Who’s hurt?” I can’t answer Erica. I can’t speak. The pain is too much. I told Derek I wouldn’t try to take the pain like I did last time, and I know if I did it now, I would probably die, so I don’t. But I do make sure to send him calming thoughts and make sure he knows I’m there with him. He isn’t alone. 

Then Deucalion starts to talk about how he wants Derek to join his pack, and that in order to do it he has to kill his own pack. He says something about when you kill a pack member you take on their strength as your own. For every member you kill you gain their power. Derek would never do that though. Deucalion has to know that. He couldn’t kill his uncle when the time came for it, he was barely able to bring himself to kill Jackson, and even then it was only because we knew that he would survive. I’m not saying Derek is perfect, but a killer he is not. His mother told him that just because they can be monsters doesn’t mean they have to be. 

Derek tells him no. and that doesn’t go over well. Deucalion gets really mad and starts ranting that he is the Alpha of Alphas, the Apex of Apex predators, I am death, destroyer of worlds, that he is the Demon-Wolf. And yeah when he can get the glass to break on his glasses and thunder to rumble in the distance, it makes me a bit worried, but it also makes me think that this guy is a few wolves short of a pack. I mean how could he not be? Still don’t know how he is blind and how that hasn’t healed.

Through all of Derek’s pain, rage, and slight bit of panic, I get a few other feelings from Isaac and Allison. Finally I have the strength to talk. “Erica,” Gasp, “Go find Scott and help Allison and Isaac. They are in trouble. Jackson, get Boyd and get to Derek. He’s at the loft. He will need to heal, so make sure he and Cora are okay.” They both nod and leave without hesitation. Lydia looks at me in fear, but the pipe has been removed from Derek’s chest, so I can breathe properly again. “I’m okay Lyds.” She looks at me skeptically, “Okay, not fine, but the worst is over now.”

“Mind telling me what is going on?”

“I will. Just give me a minute. Not every day that you feel a pipe being pushed through your chest.” She looks alarmed, but doesn’t say anything. She knows I will talk in my own time. I just sit there for a few minutes collecting myself, and put all of what happened together in my head. After I pull myself together, I tell her what happened, or at least what I could see. I have to go to him, but I don’t want to leave Danny and the others alone. “Lyds, I have to go to the loft, but I don’t want to leave the others. So I need you to stick close to Danny, and make sure the others come to the house after school is out. Derek will need the pack close, and we need to make sure everyone is okay. The loft is no longer safe. I will make Cora move there if I have to.”

She nods and helps me up then goes off to class like nothing happened. After sending a message to dad that something happened and I will fill him in later about it and asking him to let me out of school, I head to my jeep. Breaking about ten traffic laws, I get to the loft in about five minutes. As soon as I am in the door I am wrapped around a healed Derek. Jackson, Boyd, and Cora stand off to the side. It looks like Cora has been crying and the others have been trying to sooth her. “Okay, time to get you home.” I look over at Cora, “You too. This place isn’t safe anymore, and you need to be safe. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for Derek and Peter.” She looks like she is about to argue, but one look at Derek and she clams up and follows us out. 

When we get to the house, I drop Derek into his chair and immediately start going over his wounds with my magic making sure they are healing and that there is no lasting damage. “Stiles, I’m fine. You’re here, and safe.” The unsaid thanks for not taking the pain goes unsaid, but I hear it all the same. 

“Of course I’m safe. I was just at school where the Alpha’s couldn’t ram a pipe through my chest. But that still didn’t stop the person that is committing sacrifices from leaving one for us to find.”

“What?” he tries to stand, but I just push him back down and gently lower myself into his lap. The others have taken up spots on the large sectional, Cora separating herself from the others.

“Yeah, we were running for morning practice when the twins baited Erica into chasing them and starting a fight. But by the time Allison and I got there they had stopped because they happened upon another sacrifice. The first three were virgins, but I don’t know about this one. Don’t even know who he is.”

“I do.” Boyd speaks up. “We were in junior R.O.T.C. together.”

“A soldier?”

“Well not really, not yet.”

“Yeah, but Jackson, that means that two more should be following if they haven’t happened already.” Everyone is silent for a bit. Derek starts to scent me and I let him leaning into the comfort it brings to both of us. Cora looks a bit put off, but I could really care less on her opinion. 

“Do you guys think you could give us a minute alone?” Jackson and Boyd head upstairs without hesitation, and Cora looks like she doesn’t want to leave more to be a pain than anything else. “Please Cora, I need to talk to Stiles for a bit, go check out the library, there is a computer there you can use.” She gets up slowly and makes her way to the stairs and before she ascends gives me one last scathing look.

When I hear the door close, “I don’t think she likes me very much.”

“It’s not that. She just wasn’t expecting to find the Hale pack rebuilt and functioning as well as we do. She has to come to trust all of you.”

“Has she told you where she has been the last few years?” This is a sore spot between the two of us.

“No, I am letting her take her time to talk to me.” He sounds disgruntled.

“Sorry to ask, but we really don’t know anything about her. I mean she is your sister, so of course she is pack, but-“

“Stiles, I don’t want to hear it.” This is what always happens when I try to bring it up.

“I know Derek, but I worry that she is a tool the Alpha pack is using against us. I don’t want to see you hurt again.”

He won’t look me in the eyes. “She is the only family I have left besides Peter.”

“No she isn’t, but I get it. I am sorry if I am just trying to do my job not only as emissary to the pack, but also as your Mate. I am the one who is supposed to tell you things you don’t want to hear.”

“Okay, but enough about that for now.”

“Fine, we do have bigger fish to fry anyway. What happened today can’t happen again. Cora has to stay here from now on. You too. The loft is too dangerous, and it is bad enough that the twins can get to us at school. They got Isaac in trouble today by making it look like he beat one of them up. And I am pretty sure that something else happened while you had that pipe in your chest. They will all be coming over here after school gets out, so be prepared for a pack night.”

“Good. And I agree. Cora will be fine here. This is her home now. She can take one of the spare rooms and turn it into hers.” That is what I suggested from the beginning, but whatever. At least Derek will reinforce this now. Even Peter is living here full time and most of the pack stays over about half the week. No one is ever alone. Dad’s been really cool about it, but I also set up some major wards around all of the pack’s family’s houses. They aren’t as strong as the ones on the Hale house, but then I didn’t have access to the foundation on any of theirs. 

We spend the rest of the afternoon curled up on the couch waiting for the other’s return. Jackson and Boyd come back down and start playing a video game on the TV, but Cora is pretty quiet. Derek goes to check on her every hour or so, but she won’t come back downstairs. Derek doesn’t seem to be too worried about it, but the fact that she won’t talk to anyone else in the pack besides Boyd does worry me. Boyd says that she didn’t reveal anything to him in the two months they were caged up together. Just that she is a Hale and that she was on her way back here after hearing that the Hales were back in the area. 

Lydia, Erica, and Isaac text me when school is out to tell me that they are on their way to the house. So I move to the kitchen to start making some snacks for everyone. It is more to keep my hands busy than anything else. The conversation we are going to have will not be a pleasant one. Not that any of the ones we’ve had recently are, but now we are really dealing with what the Alpha pack is here for. Before it was about trying to find Boyd. There is no way that Derek will willingly kill his pack, and I don’t understand what makes Deucalion think he will. The other option that Derek was offered was death, and I am a bit too attached to him for that to happen. I don’t think Deucalion realizes who he is messing with. 

As soon as the others come in through the front door, I am all over them scenting them, and Derek is right behind me. I know that they had to deal with the twins today but I don’t know what happened. “Jackson, Boyd, can you get the snacks from the kitchen.” Isaac is still somewhat shaken up by what happened, so is Allison, so I wrap an arm around each of them and pull them to the couch to keep them close to me. Scott looks like he wants to sit close too, but actually uses his brain and takes a seat further off from them. Neither one of them are quite ready to be that close to Scott yet. 

Erica takes a seat next to Boyd on the other side of Isaac, and Lydia sits between Allison and Jackson, while Danny takes up Jackson’s other side. This couch is so awesome that it can fit all us comfortably. Cora finally makes an appearance, but stays in the doorway to the foyer rather than join the rest of us. Peter shows up not too much later and stands fairly close to her. Derek starts pacing in front of the coffee table, looking like he doesn’t know where he wants to start. So I try and break the ice. “So Allison, Isaac, the twins got to you today, what happened?”

“Well I got up to use the bathroom in Physics and when I got to the hallway, the twins were out there and one of them started to beat the shit out of the other.” He growls out the ‘twins’ rather than speaks their name. “So Harris gave me detention. It could have been worse, but considering I didn’t even do anything I was pretty pissed off.”

“And that is exactly what they are going for.” I guessed that they want to get the pack in as much trouble as they can.

“Then in French, Morrell gave me a detention for falling asleep in class. I may have deserved that one, but she was acting all creepy and she said that she was ‘worried’ about me.” She actually makes air quotes. 

“Okay, so she is trying to be invasive but in the weirdest way possible. Typical of that family though. Saying a lot of words without saying anything of meaning.” They all know of my little outburst on Deaton, not even Scott was upset with me. They all know that he could have saved us a lot of trouble.

“I can see that.” Isaac shits a bit and starts to burrow into my side. This must be where it gets bad. “So Harris was in charge of lunch detention, and he put Allison and me on restocking the storage room, and I kinda…” He tapers off and a large bout of sadness starts to come off of him. Allison surprises me by reaching a hand out to grab his and I can feel a lot of sympathy and concern flowing from her to him. 

“They closed the door and put a vending machine in front of it and knocked out the lights. He started to get a bit claustrophobic and was wolfing out. He did a really good job of not hurting me, but I can’t say so much for the paper towels we were stocking. Then Erica and Scott were there and got him out. Erica calmed him down, and then we made a plan to get back at the twins.”

“Yeah, they kept trying to make us mad, so we thought that we would return the favor. I think it was pretty slick what we did.” Erica looks proud and that fierceness about her really shows in her narrowed eyes. No one messes with her or her pack.

“What did you guys do?” Derek looks almost wary.

“Well they really love their motorcycles right? So Erica and Allison, our resident mechanical geniuses, besides Derek that is, took a few parts off of their bikes and then drove Aiden’s through the hallways of the school and when he got to the bike, Erica jumped off and got out of the way to make it look like he is the one who drove inside. He got suspended. Needless to say, they were quite at a loss for words.” Isaac is pretty proud of the two of them and lets is show through the bright smile that takes over his face.

“Yeah, and they will think twice before messing with this pack again.” Erica is grinning just as largely as Isaac, in fact the whole pack is smiling, except Cora. She doesn’t look impressed. If anything she looks repulsed. Peter nudges her but she still refuses to smile. I can feel that she is a bit amused, but she won’t show it. She really needs to get with it. I mean the pack saved her from the fate Deucalion had set out for her, and the pack has been nothing but helpful to her. I am getting really tired of the lone wolf routine she has going on. It didn’t work for Derek, and it won’t work for her. She is more like him than she probably cares to admit. 

“Did anything else happen at school that I should know about?” Derek hasn’t stopped his pacing, but has made it around the pack a few times giving out touches and brief squeezes to the shoulder of everyone. Lydia looks and feels a bit guilty and uncomfortable in her seat now. “Lydia?”

“I happened across two things while I was at school. Somehow I managed to find myself in Danny’s band class. I don’t remember how I got there, but I was drawing when he snapped me out of whatever it was I was in. The others left because the teacher was late but I had to pack up my things, and started to look around the classroom. Something felt off and I was trying to figure out what it was. I found his phone, it was recording him playing the piano, and then there was a part where the playing was interrupted like he mashed down on a bunch of the keys all at once. Then there was this weird music that followed, it was really low toned but it wasn’t the piano, and it was still recording. I was pretty freaked out, so I stopped it and sent it to my phone so we have a copy, then deleted the fact that I sent it.”

Jackson wraps her in his arms and helps to calm her down. I also send out soothing vibes to the rest of the pack just to make sure they are all okay. “I found a bloody handprint on the piano when I closed the lid. So it is safe to say that he was taken. Stiles, you said that these sacrifices will be in groups of three right?”

“Yeah, the first three were virgins, but I don’t know about this second group, Boyd said that he and Kyle were in the Junior R.O.T.C. together so-“

“The music teacher was in the Air Force, there was a wedding picture of him with his wife on their wedding day and he was in his dress uniform.”

“Shit, that means the warriors is the second group, only one more sacrifice to go and that will make six total.”

“Actually, I think the third warrior was already taken.”

“What! Who?”

Everyone is one, big, ball of tension. “I had to go see Harris about our AP Physics project, and he was missing from his desk. He was in the Army.” Now as much as I may not like the guy, I have never wished him dead. This is bad, not only from the sacrifice standpoint, but also all the people who have been taken have been from Beacon Hills High School, except Heather. I feel like these are meant to be a personal attack against me. Although, I don’t know how taking out Harris hurts me at all. My list of suspects has just shrunken considerably. “I looked through his papers, he was grading some tests, and the letters didn’t match up with the actual grades.” She hands her phone over to me so I can look at it. It spells out D.A.R.A.C.H

I take a sharp intake of breath. Not good, not good, not good. “Stiles what is it?” Derek is kneeling in front of me now cupping my face in his hands.

“You know how every person with the gift takes a name to reflect our powers? I’m a Guardian, because my powers are more for protection. Deaton calls himself a Druid. In Gaelic terms it means ‘wise oak.’ Many with the gift were considered Druids before they started to take on different names. If a Druid was said to go bad, they were called a ‘dark oak’, or a Darach as it’s translated. Harris knew things he shouldn’t have, he knew that whatever was here killing things was called that. He spelled it out in his tests. He must have known the things that have been going on here, and was trying to leave someone a clue as to what is going on. If this is someone with the gift making these sacrifices, it means they have been warped by the power, and these sacrifices are just going to make them more powerful. The worst part is, they aren’t done. If they continue to follow the pattern there will be three more sets of three. Philosophers, Healers, and…” How can I tell them? How can I say the final one?

“And what Stiles?” Derek isn’t going to like this answer. None of them are.

“And Guardians.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Stiles freaks out on Deaton. I have got to say that I really don't like the man. I know I used him as a teacher to Stiles, but that is mostly because there really was no one else to teach him. In the show during the first two seasons Deaton never helped Derek when he should have. Then in the third he was all over helping Scott. That majorly pissed me off. Deaton was the Hale pack emissary and Derek is a Hale. WTF is up with that? Some times I think the writing on the show is brilliant but then the times where huge plot holes appear and it fucks everything up. And I thought Deaton's reasons for ignoring everything was pretty shitty in 3a. 
> 
> More feels through the bond! Writing that part was kind of hard, because I wanted to show what was going on, yet not give everything away. Also I love where I have taken Derek and Stiles' relationship. Hope you guys do to?
> 
> Also when i came up for the name that Stiles takes, I totally wasn't thinking of the sacrifices and what the five kinds are. It just happened to be a happy coincidence. HIs powers and personality do reflect the name he took. 
> 
> As always thanks for all the love, and please let me know what you think!
> 
> P.S. Prepare yourselves for the next chapter, it won't be a pretty one. But I won't answer any questions about it, so if you ask, don't expect any. I know, I'm mean like that... mwhahahahaha.......


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just want to say, take a deep breath. And I'm sorry... kinda...

So much is going on. Too much. How can a bunch of teenagers handle all of this bullshit? Why would others make us try? I can barely comprehend everything that has gone on in the last few days. Where do I even begin? The bus jolts again as we go over a bump in the road. How can I be here on this bus going to some stupid track meet when… when…

“You gotta stop thinking about it.” Isaac has been doing his best to keep everyone together. I have been failing miserably at it. Derek isn’t here so it is up to me and Isaac, but really it’s Isaac who is doing all the work. This hit me hard, it hit everyone hard, but everyone is feeding off of me, I know they are and there isn’t a whole lot I can do to stop it.

“Like you’re not thinking about it to.” Erica says this in her typical snide way. It has become her defense mechanism in dealing with all of this. 

“Yeah, well, we’ll all stop thinking about it.”

“I can’t.”

“You will, there’s nothing you can do about it either.”

“You sure about that?” Her eyes start to glow amber and claws unsheathe from her nails. I have to put a stop to this now. I am the Alpha after all.

“Enough. Stop. We are not going to fight here.”

“Why not? He’s alone.” She looks almost feral and ready to pounce.

So I put in some of the power that I know will make all of them take heed, “Because I said so. Now enough of this.” Everyone is feeling sad and angry. No one wants to be here, but Derek made us come and act like nothing was wrong. Ethan is giving off his own source of guilt and fear. He doesn’t know if Ennis survived or not. Not like us, we all know. I walk down the aisle to sit next to Allison and lean my head on her shoulder. All I can do is flashback to see Ennis and Derek fighting, then Peter coming out of nowhere to push Derek out of the way and then Ennis and Peter falling.

“You okay?” 

“No, I just can’t believe that Peter is dead.”

(Flashback)____________________________________________________________________________

Derek sends out a text to everyone a few days after the Alpha pack made their threats to the pack. No one reacted well with my reveal of the five kinds of sacrifices that needed to be made. Everyone decided to keep my role as pack emissary quite, and I have taken to constantly hiding my power from others just to be on the safe side. So when everyone is there I hand out a few more protection runes to everyone. I keep trying to make them stronger, but there is only so much I can do against an Alpha.

“So what are we all doing here crowded around the table with a map of the city?” For once, I don’t know what is going on. This worries me.

“We know where the Alpha pack is living.” Derek just lays it out there, no warming up for it, just there it is. We really have to work on his social skills.

“WHAT?! How did you find out?”

“Well, I saw them the other day in the elevator.” 

“Allison, what elevator?”

“The elevator to my apartment.”

“And why aren’t you dead yet?”

“That I am not sure of. It might have something to do with the fact that Dad and I are still on the Hunt and they know it, or they are biding their time.”

“This is not good. You guys do realize this right? I’m not the only one?”

“We have to strike first.”

“Derek, I want you to look at me. This isn’t a good idea.”

“Stiles, we have to do something. They have struck against the pack multiple times, they want me to kill our pack, they are a threat and they need to be eliminated.”

“Yes, but Derek, when has a plan like this ever worked out? Never. You usually listen to my advice, and I listen to my gut. My gut is screaming how bad of an idea this is. Like monstrously terrible.”

(End)_________________________________________________________________________________

“Do you think Ethan will try anything?” Allison is carding a hand through my hair knowing that I am taking all of this really hard.

“If he knows what’s best for him then he won’t. He is terribly outnumbered here. I mean everyone but Derek and Cora are here. Why did we leave them alone again?”

“Because Derek made us come. And at least we are all together here. Derek said they wouldn’t leave the house, and your dad was going to stay there so everyone will be safe.” She waits a few minutes. “Do you think the Betas will try anything?”

“I know they want to, so do you and I, but if they know better, they won’t. I am not about to start a fight on the bus, and Ethan isn’t the one to blame here. I mean he should know better than to follow a raving lunatic, but that says more about Ethan’s life choices than Duke’s.” I know Allison is trying to distract me but it won’t work, I can’t not think about that night. 

(Flashback)____________________________________________________________________________

“Stiles, we have to make the first strike. We have to take out Deucalion now. He is their leader, if we take him out, the others will fall.”

“Derek, this isn’t like a snake. Deucalion is one Alpha in a pack of Alphas. If he should fall on of the others will rise to take his place.” Peter seems to be the only other one in the room who is in agreement with me. I am happy for the support, but I still don’t think Derek will listen to us.

“Peter’s right! We can’t fight an enemy we know nothing about. I know that the pack is strong, but you are only one Alpha. There are five of them, and the twins can merge into this super wolf thing. I just think that we should watch and listen. Not go rushing in claws first.”

“Stiles, I have to do this. He is a threat that needs to be eliminated. Please understand.” His eyes are pleading, how can I say no?

I don’t answer right away, this is going to be dangerous, I have to cover all aspects of such a suicidal plan. “Okay, but I want us to be as cautious as we can be. And have routes out of there so we can make an escape if we have to.” We start planning, and try to think of everything we can to make sure this doesn’t turn into a bloodbath.

(End)_________________________________________________________________________________

The bus comes to a stop in the middle of the highway. There is a long line of traffic ahead of us and Coach tells us that there is a jackknifed tractor, and that is why we are stopped. He is getting agitated because this might make us late for our track meet, but this is becoming a dangerous situation for the pack. They are all restless and want to take revenge for Peter. Ethan is a prime target, and to be honest, I don’t even know why he is here. He had to know that the entire pack would be on this bus, yet he came anyway. Stupid if you ask me. Just plain stupid.

After we have been stopped for a while Jackson starts to wolf out a bit on the bus. How much more of this are we going to have to go through? Damn Ethan for having to come on this damn, god forsaken, trip.

(Flashback)____________________________________________________________________________

The pack is separated each taking on their own opponents. Scott, Jackson, Boyd, and Isaac are fighting the wonder twins in their merged form. Erica and Cora are fighting Kali, and Derek is fighting Ennis. I know Peter is lurking somewhere, but he has yet to make an appearance in this fight. Allison and I are perched higher up watching it all unfold. We will be creating the distraction should we need an escape. 

The fighting is almost over, just Derek and Ennis are still going at it. Their claws are shredding each other to bits. Their fight has carried them to the edge of a large drop off, and right as Ennis steps over and starts to fall, Peter is there to separate the two warring Alphas. But he isn’t fast enough to get out of Ennis’s reach, and he is falling too. Ennis has stopped fighting, but there are falls that not even a werewolf can recover from. The look in Peter’s eyes as he falls, he looks at peace with himself for the first time. I have never seen him so calm before. But this is not how I wanted to see that look. This didn’t have to happen. Peter didn’t have to fall to his death.

(End)_________________________________________________________________________________

Jackson needs to get himself under control. So once again I am out of my seat grabbing him by the upper arm trying to get him back from the edge.

“Let go.”

“Tell me what your brilliant plan is and I will.” He looks incredulous that I would demand that from him. “Look, we have a lot on our plate right now and we don’t need any more furry problems than we already have. So if you want to wolf out right here, right now, tell me your plan and it can happen. But just think about all the other people on this bus and in all the cars around us who will see whatever it you are about to do. Really think about that. Because after you get your vengeance, you will have to deal with all of that. Are you going to kill everyone who sees you?” That gets him to back down right away. “Didn’t think so.” I know it was a little harsh to go there with him, but right now there really is no reasoning with them. Losing a pack member is like losing a limb, it won’t grow back, and the phantom pain will remain with you always.

Lydia gives me a look of thanks and then takes over trying to comfort him and calm him down. It is one of the only saving graces that the whole pack is here. I don’t have to constantly be on top of all of them. Other pack members can help calm them down. Even those not on the track team came on the bus to be close. Smart move. too. 

I take my seat by Allison again and try to relax, not that, that will happen any time soon. “Stiles, did you notice that he keeps checking his phone?” Allison points to Ethan. He does seem to be pretty jumpy. I just thought it was because he was seriously outnumbered, but maybe not.

“That is weird. Let’s find out why.” I send a message to Danny and then I send a few more and make it look like I am pestering him. But basically I tell him to find out who Ethan is waiting to hear from but make it look like he doesn’t want to ask. 

Eventually Danny does ask, and then moves to console him before texting me back. ‘someone close to him is sick. Might not make it through the night.’

Allison reads the message over my shoulder and Isaac leans back to hear what is going on. “Okay, so it sounds like Ennis is alive like we thought. But it’s iffy if he will survive. Derek was pretty sure that even injured he would have lived after that fall. It just might take a while to heal from it. And when we went to get… His body was gone. So either they got him and moved him or he crawled away on his own.”

“What does it mean for us?” Isaac is trying to think ahead like the second he is. I am very proud of him right now.

“Well if he’s dead, then they are going to blame it on us, and probably try to take revenge or something. Even though we suffered our own loss that night.” I can’t help but say the last part with a bite of bitterness on my tongue. It was an unnecessary death. It would be on both sides should Ennis perish. “If he lives, well Derek still hasn’t done what was asked of him, so they are going to try and force his hand again. How, I don’t know, but that seems to be the name of Duke’s game.”

“Why are they doing this anyway? Why Derek?”

“It’s because he’s a True Alpha. He holds more power than any of them could want. Pair that with the fact that he has a True Mate, and that his Mate is one with the gift, well it makes our pack very powerful. From what I’ve read, most supernatural creatures would stay away, unless they are foolish or stupid enough to think that they can take us on. The fact that our pack is strong not only in power, but in numbers makes this Alpha pack’s ‘mission’ all the more fool hearty. But they think since they out power us with physical strength, that we will fold underneath them.”

“I guess they didn’t do their research too well on you and Derek, huh?” That makes me pull Isaac to me and ruffle his hair about.

“No pup, they didn’t.” I let a small laugh escape me, but then I am pulled back to the events of that night. 

(Flashback)____________________________________________________________________________

Watching the fight from the sidelines is probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. I am not one to just sit there and watch others fight. I mean, if I can’t do anything, then sure, but I stress out the whole time. And this time is no different. Allison and I got there early to set up a ring of mountain ash so that we could stay undetected and aid in escape or whatever means are necessary. 

And it looks like they might need our help soon. Our guys are losing. Even though we have them out numbered they have us out powered. The charms I gave them are failing, and somehow Ennis knocked Derek down long enough to grab Boyd while Kali knocked Erica out to grab Cora.

“Derek, this is a simple choice. Either kill your Beta, or watch your sister die. The choice is yours. Make it wisely.” Derek hesitates. He doesn’t want to lose either of them. None of us do. The wolves are out of choices, so now it is Allison’s and my turn to help out. I knew this plan would be a bust, I’m just glad we planned for an emergency fallback. 

One nod to Allison and she starts to shoot her quicksilver arrows that will blind the wolves. The pack instantly knows to shield their eyes and to start to back away. Kali drops Cora and she grabs Erica and gets out. The wonder twins are forced apart and back off as Scott, Isaac, and Jackson back away from them to make their own escape. Derek gets to Boyd and pulls him from Ennis’s grasp, but then he and Ennis start their fight all over again. 

I start to launch my own flash-bangs toward Deucalion trying to ward him off. He has proved that even though he is blind he is not defenseless. My own little grenades force him back though, as he is unsure what it is exactly being fired at him. Kali makes a quick jump to him and they race out of the building. The twins aren’t far behind, but Ennis doesn’t know when to give up. He and Derek are really going at it. I am too high up to really do anything, and Allison doesn’t have a clear shot. All we can do is watch, and I really hate that. Isaac and Jackson reappear obviously looking for Derek who still hadn’t come out with the rest of them. But they too are helpless to fight. 

As the fight progresses they start making their way to a large drop off. I am afraid that they are going to go over, but neither one of them is paying attention to their surroundings. There is blood everywhere and there is no way to tell who could possibly be winning this fight. Ennis takes one wrong step and is about to go over the edge, pulling Derek with him. But then Peter comes out of virtually nowhere and somehow gets himself between them and manages to separate them from each other. In doing so he knocks Ennis off the ledge to fall, and for a moment all is good, we might possibly be free of one enemy Alpha. Ennis has other plans though. Claws tear into Peter’s back and then they are both falling. Derek races to the edge to try and catch his uncle’s hand, but is too far away. Peter doesn’t scream as he falls, he doesn’t say a word. All I get is a sense of contentment from him. And then he’s just gone. 

I am pretty sure that I scream his name and Allison has to catch me as I fall to the floor. The severed connection to Peter rips from me like all of my hair being pulled out of my head all at once. No, it’s worse than that. I feel his death, even now the connection aches like a phantom limb. I know there should be a feeling there, but when I reach for it, there’s nothing. 

Later I’m told that Isaac and Jackson had to go to Derek and pull him away from the edge where he was still trying to reach for his fallen pack mate. Allison drags me from the circle and takes me down to Derek. As soon as I am within reach of him we are wrapped in each other’s arms. This is when I have to pull myself together. Derek is slowly falling apart and he needs someone to be strong for him. So often he is the strong one, so this is the least I can do for my Mate. After ten minutes, I tell Jackson to go to the others and make sure they get to the house okay. Then with Isaac’s and Allison’s help Derek and I go down to collect Peter’s body. There is no doubt in my mind that he is gone forever. Whatever magic he used last time to come back won’t help him again. Ennis is gone, I don’t know if he managed to crawl away or if the other Alphas got him first, but at this point I really don’t care. Derek won’t let anyone else touch the body, and it takes all I have just to get us out to the jeep to get us home. Derek curls up in the far back clutching at Peter like if he lets go his body will float away. 

I have to cut myself off from everyone’s emotions at this point. I never want to do that to Derek, but if I continue to feel his sorrow and guilt on top of my own, I might just drown in the emotions, and not be fit to help anyone along with this. 

As soon as we get to the house, everyone is waiting on the front porch, my dad is even there with Ms. M. Peter will get a proper burial. Derek takes him down to the basement to prepare the body, while my dad starts to ask a thousand questions. Isaac can tell that I am nowhere near able to handle that right now so he answers all of them unflinchingly. The rest of the pack listens too, only the four of us witnessed what happened. From my small storage of herbs and materials, I pull out a wolfsbane plant and smaller flowers to weave into the rope that will surround Peter’s grave to let him make the final turn into a wolf.

I set myself up on the back porch to stay away from the other wolves, and after a while Lydia and Danny come out to silently help me as I work. I don’t let them make the rope, but I do let them hand me the purple flowers as I need them. It doesn’t take me long to finish the rope, I don’t know if it was my magic that aided me or just my focus on the task at hand, but it is done. Not too much longer Derek comes out with the others carrying a Peter covered in a burlap tarp. Someone has dug a hole already on the outskirts of the clearing the house is set in. His grave will border the forest, a fitting place for a wolf to rest. 

Derek lets me tie the rope around Peter and then gently, together, we lower him into his grave. There isn’t much to be said about Peter, mostly because the only one who really knew him was Derek, and he isn’t really in a speaking mood right now. Once his body is covered and the circle of the wolfsbane rope is set, the wolves let out a mournful howl and let that final call to the moon be the start to the grieving for the pack. Silently it is decided that the wolves will go for a run to celebrate the life that was so grievously taken from us. Ms. M., Lydia, Danny, and Allison go inside to start making up some food for the wolves when they get back, but Dad and I stay outside. I’m still not really sure how I should handle everything that is going on. I mean I am only a kid. How am I supposed to be able to handle this? When we lost mom it was hard enough. But I knew what I had to do, I had to keep Dad going, and make sure that he was taken care of. 

But Derek is a whole different story. He has lost most of his family. He lost his pack. I know that he will blame himself for Peter’s death, he will try to push everyone away. I don’t know how to handle that. Dad must be able to sense my conflicting emotions. “Son, this is going to be hard. For all of you. Derek will let you in, you just have to be patient with him. And I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, but Peter seemed to be prepared for this outcome. He left me with his will a few months ago. He wanted me to hand it over to you should this ever happen. But I want you to take a few days before you read it. Knowing him, it is full of snark and his pompousness. Just take some time, and then when you are all ready, sit together as a pack and read it.” He hands me an envelope and quickly I tuck it into my pocket so no one else will see.

(End)_________________________________________________________________________________

My hand drifts to the pocked of my hoodie where the envelope still sits. Derek knows I have it, so do the rest of the pack. None is quite ready to hear what he has to say, but I think after this little trip we will be. The rest of the pack is restless, and they need some kind of closure before they will be able to move on. Hopefully it doesn’t come too late. 

Then my phone starts to go off, and it’s from Deaton, someone I didn’t think I would be hearing from anytime soon. Too intrigued as to what he has to say, I answer. “And how can I help my least favorite Doctor today?” What? So I’m still a little pissed at the guy, he can deal.

“I’m sorry to hear of your recent loss. I know that Peter’s death has hit you and the pack hard, and for that I am truly sorry.”

“If that is all, I am a little busy right now.”

“Unfortunately that is not the reason I am calling you today.”

“You call that unfortunate?”

“You misunderstand me.”

“Well then maybe you should just get to your point instead of beating around the bush like you do every other time.”

“Kali brought Ennis to me yesterday evening. He was on the verge of death, and I asked to help him. As you can guess they were quite convincing and I did indeed help the man. He was on his way to a full recovery.”

“Okay, so basically what your telling me is that you helped the bad guys here. Good job Doc.”

“Stiles, I said he was on his way to a full recovery. Last night Deucalion came in and killed him while he was still on the table too weak to move.” I don’t even know what to think at this point. 

“Uh, thanks, I guess.” Not really wanting to talk to him too much more I hang up. Allison heard the whole conversation, Isaac as well. The rest of the pack looks like they know most of what happened, but Ethan still is in the dark. He is still constantly checking his phone. I don’t even remember making the conscious choice to get up and walk over to him, but he needs to know the truth, not whatever lies Deucalion will spread to the rest of his demented pack. “Ethan, can I talk to you alone for a moment?” Both he and Danny look confused, but he nods and gets up as we walk to the front of the bus. Coach gives us a weird look, but lets us by. “What I have to say to you isn’t going to be pleasant, but I want you to listen to my heartbeat to know that what I am telling you is the truth. My pack won’t take action against you while we are on this trip, you have my word as a Guardian on that.”

“Stiles, just get to your point.”

“Yesterday, as you might know, Ennis was taken to Alan Deaton to help him heal. Deaton just called me to say that he was going to make a full recovery, but during the night your high and mighty leader of an Alpha came in and killed him.” Ethan takes in a deep breath and doesn’t let it go. “I don’t know what Deucalion’s plans are past what he has said, but we had nothing to do with this, and I am sorry that you have lost a pack mate. As you know we are suffering from our own loss. No one has told you what is going on, and I just thought that you should be in the loop.” Ethan just nods his head in silence and keeps his head turned down. He is giving off feelings of grief and sorrow. I can tell he doesn’t know what to do or say, and for all that neither do I. So I walk back to Allison and sit back down wishing that this damn trip would be done already so I can go back home and be in the comfort of my Mate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm a terrible person, I know I'm a terrible person. Please don't hate me too much for what I've done. I have reasons for doing this... I didn't want to kill anyone, but season three had so much death in it from within the pack that I couldn't keep everyone alive. Peter died a hero's death, and I want him remembered as such. His death will also influence events to come, so I really hope you don't hate me for killing him.
> 
> As always thanks for the love and tell me what you think! I really want to know!


	6. Chapter 6

After we get past the tractor we are going to be late for the meet. But they pushed it back a day so we won’t miss it. Unfortunately that means that we have to spend the night somewhere, and that somewhere is a gritty Motel. Not the prettiest place, but I suppose it will have to do. The school is paying for the rooms so we all have to group up. Scott, Boyd, and Jackson take one room, Ethan and Danny room up together. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I know Ethan has been feeling conflicted but he is still the enemy. At least I think he is. I make sure to shoot off a text to Danny telling him to be careful and to come find me if he needs anything. Erica, Lydia, and Allison room together, and Isaac is with me.

As we start to head toward our rooms, Lydia stops and looks hesitant to move forward. “What’s up Lyds?”

“I don’t like this place.” Her face shows that she is serious, and that this isn’t about the non-five star quality of our accommodations.

“I don’t think the people who own this place like this place.” I don’t think that it will work to comfort her, but I am not going to ignore her instincts. That would be stupid.

“I’ve seen worse.”

“Scott, where have you seen worse?” Isaac still hasn’t fully forgiven Scott, at least I don’t think he has. It also doesn’t help that Isaac and Allison are getting closer to each other, and Scott still hasn’t quite given up on the idea of getting back together with her. Love triangles, whatcha gonna do?

“Lyds, it’s just for one night.”

“A lot can happen in one night.” She says this almost ominously, but there isn’t much we can do now. We are suck here for the night, we might as well try to make the best of it.

After everyone gets set up in their room, they come to mine and Isaac’s. Mostly for comfort but also because I have had nothing but free time to think, and this has lead me to a few ideas of who the Darach might be. 

“So how many people do you think it might be?” Isaac is still fulfilling his duties as second, even when we are not in top form. 

“I have four.”

“Four? You have four suspects?”

“Yes, Scott. It was originally nine. Well actually I am down to three.”

“Let me guess Harris was number one.”

“Yeah, I mean at first I thought just because he’s missing doesn’t mean he’s dead. But then the thought of him out committing ritual sacrifices was kind of ridiculous and sounded better in my head.”

“Well what if it is somebody else from school? Like, you remember Matt? We didn’t know that he was killing people.”

“Um, Excuse me? I’m sorry what?” I stand up and start to pace a little. Scott really never listened to me, and this is only just one example of it. “I called that from day one actually. I never liked the guy and said that he was creepy, I even suggested that he was the one controlling the Kanima. We were in the Library remember?”

“Yeah, he kinda did Scott.” Love Isaac.

“You just refused to listen to him.” Love Allison.

“They’re right. You were pretty stupid. Still are sometimes.” Love Erica.

“Okay, okay. I was wrong. Got it, moving on. Who are the other three?”

Stiles pauses for a moment here. This is not someone who he wanted to bring up, but is a very viable suspect. “Derek’s sister, Cora.” There are some gasps that go up around the room. “I know, but we don’t know anything about her. Derek trusts her, but I’m not so convinced. She only moved into the house because Derek made her and the loft wasn’t safe anymore. She won’t actively join in on pack nights, and Derek won’t listen to me. I want to know what happened to her, but he won’t ask. And now that Peter-“ Just saying his name rips the words that were going to follow from my mouth. Everyone is silent and downcast. While not everyone openly accepted him, his death and the reason for it is still hard for all of us to deal with. When we get back from this senseless trip I am going to read the will to everyone. We all need that last bit of closure. But now we have other things that need to be discussed. “Next is Deaton.”

“Really?” Lydia is the one to voice this, but the whole pack is looking at me almost incredulously. 

“Yes, he has withheld valuable information that could have saved many lives, multiple times.”

“But wasn’t he the Dumbledore to your Harry?”

“Jackson, really with the Harry Potter references? But even if that is true, we really know nothing about him. He was the emissary to the Hales before the fire, what happened that he wasn’t there to help Derek and Laura after? Plus his sister is the Alpha pack’s emissary and he knew that the whole time. He is more than a valid suspect.” No one says anything against me for this. Deaton has been too mysterious and even though he did help to train me I am not going to be quick to trust him again. I learned my lesson the first time. 

“Who’s the last one?” Surprisingly it is Boyd who asks this. Maybe it’s because the pack was feeding off my anger, and Boyd is the most level headed of us all. Or maybe he is more interested in my theories that he cares to admit. Not that he talks all that much anyway.

Sitting back down on the bed, I am not sure that I want to continue this conversation any more. “I’m not sure that I want to say at this point.”

“Why not?” Isaac is getting a little worried at my hesitance so I reach over and grab his arm in reassurance. 

“Because all of you will think it’s for the wrong reasons.”

“It’s Miss Blake, isn’t it?” Erica, of course she would pick up on this. I mean I haven’t been all that quiet on my mistrust of her, but I have nothing to back me up.

“Yes, but it isn’t a jealously thing. I trust Derek, she has just given me the weirdest vibe since she got here. I don’t trust her, and she knows too much, and isn’t freaking out enough. I mean when I told Scott he was a werewolf he refused to believe me. When Lydia got bit she had no clue what to make of it, most of our first encounters with the supernatural left us all pretty shaken up.”

“Except you.” Jackson almost snorts, and the others join in on his smirk. “You just fell right into it, and loved every second of it.”

I wave my hand in front of my face to dismiss his accusations, “my freakishness aside, none of us have come away unscathed by all of this. And when Derek went back to check on her she just tried to flirt with him. In school she acts as though nothing has happened. She is too calm about all of it, and I don’t know what to make of that.”

“Maybe she’s just like you, and able to adapt easily.” 

“I don’t think it’s that, Allison. I know I keep saying it, but something about her just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s almost like she is too doe eyed about this whole thing. Like it’s all an act.” No one has anything to say to that, and really the conversation is at a close. Derek already knows my theories, well except the one about his sister. Now that the pack knows, they know who to watch for in day to day life. They all go back to their rooms and Isaac and I start to get ready for bed.

There is nothing on the old television to watch, so I end up on my phone texting Dad and Derek about where we are and that we are all okay. Isaac is in the bathroom, but I am feeling a bit hungry, so I decide to go down to the vending machine to grab something to eat. We all ate at some fast food place, but that was hours ago. When I get there Jackson is standing in front of the machine. He doesn’t seem to see me or even realize that I’m there, but he puts his money in and presses the buttons to get what he wants. But then it gets stuck. Before I can say anything, he punches the glass and it shatters. Stonily, he reaches in and grabs the item he had wanted then walks away. That isn’t normal behavior, even for Jackson who has somewhat of a temper from time to time. It’s almost like he wasn’t in control of himself and that worries me. 

I reach out and feel out the rest of the pack, Lydia is anxious like she has been since we got here, Allison is calm, but there is an undertone of sadness and worry. Not strange for the day we’ve had. Danny seems happy. I think he is really falling for Ethan and while that worries me, I’m not so sure it’s a bad thing. Maybe Danny will be the thing that will bring the twins around. But the wolves, all are strangely calm. Like abnormally calm. They shouldn’t be this serene, not after what has gone on the last few days. There is definitely room to worry.

When I get back to the room Isaac is sitting on the bed clicking through the channels on the T.V. but he has gone so high that all he is getting is static. He doesn’t stay on one channel for more than a second, but it is enough for anyone to realize that there is nothing on this high up. He has a weird smile on his face like he’s happy about something, the static? “Isaac? Are you okay man?”

He slowly starts to come out of whatever it is he was under, and turns to me. “What?”

I move closer to sit next to him and look him in the eyes. “Isaac, are you okay? What were you doing?”

“I wasn’t doing anything, I was just sitting here.”

“Dude, you were flicking through the channels and all you had was static, but you were smiling like a baby that shit its diaper and was happy about it. I was pretty creepy.”

“I don’t know. I finished up in the bathroom and then came in here. That’s all.” He turns off the T.V. and crawls up his bed and looks like he is about to fall asleep.

Then I get a text from Allison asking to meet her and Lydia in their room. “So I just went down to get more towels and they have this number up in the office that is counting the number of suicides that happen here in this hotel. Apparently they have the highest rate in all of California. They have one hundred ninety-eight in the last forty years. That is like five a year. Not a ton, but more than what I think is safe.”

“That isn’t the only weird thing going on, all the wolves are strangely calm but then they are acting weird. Jackson busted up the vending machine downstairs and Isaac was flipping through channels of static.”

“They aren’t the only ones. Erica left the room after mumbling and while I was showering Scott came in and was acting like he was going to do something. But he snapped out of it and left. And Lydia heard some people talking in the next room about committing suicide, but when we went to check the room out no one is there. They are doing remodeling.”

“I think we need to do an exorcism on this whole place.” She grabs the bible from the bed stand and an article from a newspaper falls out. When I read it I see that it is an article of a suicide that happened at this motel, in this room. I grab the bible from Lydia and shake it out, when I do, more articles fall out. Each of them are about a suicide that happened in this room. “It’s like a record of all the deaths that have happened in this room.”

“What if every room has a bible with them in it?” After I make the suggestion, we are all racing out of the room to the one where they were remodeling. It should be open still and we can easily check that one, but when we get there, the door is locked. 

“The door wasn’t locked ten minutes ago.”

Lydia looks really shaken up. “I think we need to get the wolves out of here. We shouldn’t be here.” We start to move to our rooms to get them to the bus, but then a saw starts up in the locked room. This isn’t going to be good. I move the girls out of the way and then kick the door open. Living with a Sheriff lets you learn a few things when trying to open locked doors. As soon as the door is open we see Ethan standing there moving to put the saw to his own chest. As much as I may not trust the guy, I don’t want him dead. Not yet anyway. So Allison and I rush to him to pull the saw away. He fights us, but we manage to get it free. But he doesn’t let that stop him. He unsheathes his claws and then tries to rip himself to shreds. We can’t let him do that either so Allison and I each grab an arm and try to stop him. It is a struggle though, he is and Alpha after all, so we more or less do a little dance around the room and when he shoves us off him he stumbles back into a space heater that was drying the new coat of paint in the room and he snaps out of whatever trance he was in. Before we can say anything he races out of the room. “You’re welcome for saving your life!” I can’t help but shout after him. 

The whole time we were struggling with Ethan, Lydia had been working herself into near hysteria. She starts to run away, and I have to follow her. “Allison, try to get the other wolves! We need to get the hell out of this place, like now!” She nods and run after Lydia. She is freaking out a bit and I don’t want to leave her alone. Then she slows as she reaches the parking lot and her head tilts like she can hear something. The voice leads her to a grate in the ground and there is a faint sound of water from it, probably a sewer or drain of some kind. When she crouches to hear what the voice is saying, I am fairly certain I know what Lydia is. She is supernatural, but I’m not so sure she will be happy about the fact that she is a Banshee. Then she stands. 

“Someone is drowning.” Instantly I reach out to the wolves. None of them are calm any more, and Boyd is fading, fast.” Wordlessly I chase to his room. When I get there Erica is sitting on the bed rocking back and forth not really with it at all. Jackson is sitting next to her but he is staring blankly into space, much like he was when he broke the vending machine. But it is Boyd that I am worried about imminently. He is in the tub full of water with a safe sitting on top of his chest. He is drowning himself and the others are in the other room doing nothing. We can’t drain the tub, he clogged it with something, and the safe is too heavy for the two of us to lift. 

I don’t know what to do. I am helpless to do anything. Backing against the wall, all I want to do is sink to the floor and cry for not listening to Lydia in the first place. But I hit the heater on the wall and almost burn my arm. Then I remember that Ethan was snapped out of this trance by touching the heat. “It’s the heat Lyds, it snaps them out of it. We need to burn him somehow. But he’s underwater.”

“Flares! The flares on the bus will burn underwater!” I don’t hesitate to rush down to the bus and find the flares under the driver’s seat. There are three, but I think two will do, so I grab them and hurry back up the stairs to Boyd. His life is slowly leaving him and I can’t let that happen. As soon as I get the thing lit I stab it into the skin on his arm and instantly he is back and shoves the safe off himself and is breathing again. Now Erica and Jackson. But when I get back into the room, they have started to fight each other. Claws and fangs are out, eyes flashing, and a low growl is coming from both of them. I don’t have time for this. So I quickly jab the flare at each of them and they are coming out of it too. I am only able to relax for a second before I think of Scott and Isaac. Allison is there suddenly.

“I found Isaac, but he isn’t himself. I don’t know what is going on, he is hiding under his bed in your room. And I can’t find Scott anywhere.”

“Isaac first.” I was worried, now I am surging past that and straight into terrified. Boyd, Jackson, and Erica are all weak, but alive and looking like they won’t fall back into whatever spell it was they were under. So we go to Isaac. The first flare has gone out but I still have the second, and when I reach under the bed with it to get him, the look of fear in his eyes makes me want to cry. I never want to be the reason that look is on his face and in his eye. He deserves so much more. But the fact that I managed to get him out of whatever the hell it is the wolves were under makes things better. Scott is still missing, and I don’t know what to do about that. We leave Isaac to start gathering himself together, and told him to meet us out at the bus. 

When we get outside, Scott is standing in the middle of the parking lot drenched. As we approach the smell of gasoline hits my nose and then we see that he has the last flare in his hand and it is burning. “Scott, what are you doing?” Allison’s voice is shaky. My heart is thudding in my chest. I don’t even know what to do. 

“There’s no hope.”

“Scott, what are you talking about? There’s always hope.”

“Not for Peter.”

“Peter wasn’t your fault. He made a choice, he chose to give his life for the pack.”

“Every time I try to fight back it just gets worse. People keep getting hurt. People keep getting killed.”

I can’t let this go any further. “Scott, listen to me. This isn’t you. This is someone inside of your head telling you to do this.”

“What if it isn’t? What if it is just me? What if doing this is actually the best thing I could do for everyone else? It all started that night I was bitten. Do you remember who I was before then? Who we were? We were nothing. We weren’t popular, we weren’t good at lacrosse, we weren’t important. We were no one. Maybe I just want to be no one again. No one at all” I can see where he is coming from. We weren’t anyone special before all this stuff was thrust into our laps. But I thought that Scott had come to his senses since then. I didn’t know he still felt the same way. But then he hasn’t talked to me much since Allison came into the picture. I don’t blame her, he just stopped talking to me. Somewhere along the line we stopped being friends. 

“Scott just listen to me okay?” Even if we aren’t as close as we used to be, we are pack, we are brothers, and I won’t let him do this. “You’re not no one. Okay, your someone. Scott, you were my best friend, my brother. So you’re not going to do this… I won’t let you do this.” I hold my hand out to him trying to say that I want him to hand me the flare, but as my hand outstretches, something weird happens. I feel a tingling sensation race up my arm and through my body, and I will the flare away from him. I will it to leave his hand and fly away from the puddle of gasoline he is standing in. And it does fly, right out of his hand and onto the ground a few feet away. I can’t believe I just did that. My telekinesis after months of tried practice finally makes an appearance. It comes through when I needed it the most, and I think it will always be able to be used now. But then Lydia screams for us to get out of the way, and the flare rolls back into the gas and Lydia flies at us knocking the three of us out of the way before the small explosion happens and blows up the place we were just standing. 

The wolves all come racing out of their rooms with our stuff when they hear that, and when they see we are all okay, Isaac races to Allison to help her up, Jackson helps Lydia, Erica helps me, while Boyd makes sure Scott is okay. “So we are going to sleep on the bus. This motel is nothing but bad. When we get back to town we are going to have a pack meeting. If nothing else just to be together and talk if that’s what you need. I know each of you were affected by something to make those thoughts enter your heads, even if I don’t know what they were.” No one says anything as we load onto the bus. 

As we all start to get comfortable Lydia speaks up. “There was something in the fire. I couldn’t see it that clearly, but it was a person with a severely scarred face. I think it might have been the Darach.”

“It would make sense that he went after us. We are trying to figure out who they are. But why only go after the wolves? And how?”

…

We all wake up the next day when everyone else is loading onto the bus. Coach starts yelling at us asking what we are doing on the bus and complaining about the meet being canceled. The large part of me is relieved that we can just go home now, but another part of me is furious that we wasted two days on this damn bus, and almost lost all the wolves at this fucked up excuse of a motel. Okay, so maybe it’s bigger than I thought. 

As the coach is walking by Lydia is drawn to his whistle. It’s actually kind of comical the way she grabs it off his neck and the way he is so flabbergasted that he doesn’t do anything about it. She stares at it for an inordinate amount of time, and then covers it with her hand so the noise is muffled then blows. When her hand comes away from the opening it is covered in purple dust. “Wolfsbane.”

“What?" She holds her hand out for me to inspect. “You mean that every time he has blown his whistle all wolves were inhaling wolfsbane? That might explain why they all went crazy last night. I mean I think he whistled at Greenburg about thirty or forty times in the space of an hour yesterday.” The bus starts to move and I know that I have to get rid of the damn thing so I snatch it out of Lydia’s hand and open the window and toss it out. The yelling from coach is totally worth it if it means keeping the wolves sane. 

The ride home is kind of tense. Ethan sits at the very front of the bus with Danny while the pack and I sit at the very back. I don’t want to make any phone calls that could be overheard, so I text Derek to meet us at the school when we get there. He has to be told about what happened on this God forsaken trip, and we as a pack have to read Peter’s will. Most of the wolves fall asleep on the way home and I wish I could join them, but all of the things that have happened in the last few weeks keep pressing on me. My legs are jittery and I can’t keep them from bouncing. Somehow Isaac and Allison are next to me again, and they both cuddle up to me on either side and try their best to calm me down but it doesn’t really work. I don’t think I’ll be calm again until I am with Derek and know that he is still alive and well. 

When we finally pull into the school parking lot Derek is there sans Cora. I can only assume that she is back at the house. The pack makes its way off the bus and somehow I am the last one off. As I step down onto the asphalt Ethan grabs my arm and instantly all of the wolves tense and he lets go almost as soon as he snapped out. “Can I help you Ethan?”

I know, and he knows that all the wolves are listening and waiting to hear what he has to say. I don’t know why he has to talk to me, but I guess I don’t really have much of a choice but to listen. “I know this doesn’t mean much after what we have done, but Aiden and I don’t want to do what Deucalion wants. We are trapped. We owe him too much. We don’t want to be killers, but there isn’t any other way.” Then he starts to walk away and now it’s my turn to reach out and stop him. 

“You always have a choice. You have options Ethan. You just have to be brave enough to make the right choice. It won’t be easy, and it could get messy. But there is always another way.” He doesn’t look convinced but nods and walks away anyway. 

As soon as I make it over to the pack Derek takes me in his arms and starts to scent mark me trying to get off the scent of Ethan. “Are you okay?” His voice is ragged and tired.

“Not really. I just want to go home.” And that’s when it hits me. Home isn’t my dad’s house. It’s Derek’s. I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the way it did. I feel bad that it’s the way I feel, but I can’t help it. I mean my dad’s house will always be home to me, but it’s not where Derek is, it’s not where the pack is, it’s not where my heart is. And okay, that is totally and completely sappy and cheesy, but it is true. He just nods and pulls me towards the new SUV he bought. The Camaro is a classic and he would never get rid of it, but the SUV is more practical for the woods, and hauling around the pack. 

Everyone comes to the house without being asked. I think they all sense the need to be together right now. As we drive I tell Derek what happened at the Motel, and he growls the whole time. We know that the Darach was trying to get rid of us. He probably thinks that we are a threat, and he should. We will stop him no matter what. I just hope that we can before any more people have to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I didn't change much here until the end of the episode, and who Stiles rules as suspects for the Darach. He is close to figuring things out but not quite there yet. And Stiles is starting to help Ethan down the right path. I have some plans for the twins but I won't say what they are. I like to let you guys find out while reading. Next chapter is the reading of Peter's will, probably one of the hardest chapters for me to write and edit. But more on that next update.
> 
> Please let me know what you think! Love to hear your guys's feedback!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is an early update for no reason at all.
> 
> Get ready for some MAJOR Peter feels. Tears me be a thing that happen just so you know.

The whole pack is clustered in the living room, mostly on the couch and floor around it. Even my dad is here. Derek and I are curled up on his chair. He hasn’t lost physical contact with me since I told him about our night. Cora is once again sitting on the outside edge of everyone. She is standing closer to Boyd, they kind of bonded in their two months of captivity and that has drawn her closer. Even though what happened was a tragedy, I am hoping that it might bring her closer to the pack in general. 

The words that I am about to speak stick in my throat before I can say anything. It’s only Derek’s presence under me, and his nose in the space behind my ear that allow me to start. “So Peter left a will to be read to us. I don’t know if he knew he would be leaving us, or if it was just preparedness, but he did.” I fiddle with the closed envelope in my hand, toying with the edges not really wanting to open it, but almost afraid not to. 

Everyone tenses at Peter’s name. I don’t know how long it will take for us to be able to say it without that happening; I know he would hate it if it continued for too long. He was never one to take things too seriously, at least outwardly. It is one of the many ways that he and I were alike. Finally I gain the courage to open the letter and pull it out to start reading.

“To whom it may concern in the event of my death,(or in other words, Little Red). First off I want to say that Derek, stop blaming yourself. I don’t know how my death occurred, but I know that you are currently in what Stiles would affectionately call a ‘pity party’ and I don’t care what happened it was probably entirely of my own doing.” The pack laughs quietly with tears in their eyes at this. “I don’t necessarily mean that it was my fault, but that I made a decision to do something stupid enough to get myself killed, and there is nothing you could have done to stop me. I only hope that it was doing something heroic, I mean I am obviously the underlying hero of this story after all.” I can’t help but roll my eyes. Even in his death he is trying to make light of a terrible situation. But this is exactly what we all needed.

“I don’t have much in the ways of possessions, so instead I leave you with this. Your parents would be immensely proud of you. You took an impossible situation and yet managed to thrive and prosper. You let people into your life again even after being torn down by others, myself included. I know I was never perfect and only in my death can I admit to such a thing, but you surpassed any and all expectations that were put upon you on your birth and rise to Alpha status. You may not have been prepared for the authority and responsibility it brought to you, and you may not have always handled every situation the in the best way, but you never gave up. Even when lesser men than you would have. I am sorry that I took Laura from you. It is one of the biggest regrets in my life. I don’t know if you still blame me for her death, but know that after I regained my sanity, it was something that I lived with every day. It may not mean much coming from me, but I want you to know that I am proud of you as well. You have turned into a better man that I could ever have hoped to be. Continue letting others in and trust your instincts. And listen to Stiles. He probably knows better than you and will never lead you astray.” 

As I spoke the words I could feel the tears fall from his eyes and his hands curl into my shirt tighter and tighter. I set the letter down and wrap him in my arms as tightly as I can manage from the position I’m in. The pack knows that he needs a moment and doesn’t press for me to continue or come any closer. Usually Derek wouldn’t mind but right now he needs to grieve and mourn alone. Or at least as alone as I will let him. It takes a few minutes, but when he is able he pulls back and reaches his hand up to my face to wipe away the tears that fell from my own eyes unnoticed by me. He nods and that is my cue to continue reading. 

“Lydia. I think I owe you the next apology only to be followed by Scott and Jackson. When I was feral I bit you thinking to add your beauty and knowledge to the pack I was trying to start. I didn’t know the ramifications it would leave in its wake. Then on top of that I used you to bring myself back from death. No matter what I say, there is nothing I can do to make up for the pain I have caused you. I can’t give you anything to heal the damage I initiated against you, but in my apartment you will find a knife in the safe. Stiles knows the combination to get it. It is a blessed weapon that will hurt any supernatural creature. It will stop most from healing and those with magic from healing any wounds it causes. I give this to you so you are never left defenseless again. It is all I can do for you now from the other side. Live a long life and never let what I did stop you from reaching your true potential. I’m not sure what you are, but when you figure it out, don’t let it scare you. Embrace it, and let it push you to new levels of your own advancement.” She looks a little shaken up at his words, but the fierce determination that is always in her eyes stays and I know that she has finally forgiven him for all the things he had done to her. The forgiveness isn’t important for Peter. Not anymore, but now I know that she will be able to move on and put it behind her and allow her to move forward. Jackson keeps her close and she lets him knowing that what is coming next will be just as hard for him to hear.

“Jackson, I think I owe you a bigger apology that to Scott. Because of me you became a killer and a monster. I turned you into the Kanima. I know that you blame yourself for the deaths you caused, but I want you to know that after it was all said and done, I blamed myself as well. I have nothing that I can offer you that would make up for what I caused you to do, but I want to say never let Lydia go. If she pushes away, and someday she will, don’t let her get out of your grasp. To lose your mate, your love, it is the worst thing that can happen to a wolf. Tell her every day how much she means to you, be sappy and love sick. It might drive her up a wall for a while, but she will come to appreciate it in the moments when she has doubts. I affected her psyche more than she would care to admit and she will need you to keep her grounded just as you need her.” Lydia has rolled her eyes at Peter’s words, but even more so at the small things that Jackson starts to whisper into her ear. A smile crosses her face though and I am glad that Peter had the foresight to say these things to us, even if it couldn’t have been face to face.

“To Scott. You may feel that I owe you more than the others, but really I don’t. Yes I gave you the bite without your consent, and while it did make your life harder for a time, you cannot deny all of the perks you have taken full advantage of in the interim. Yes I may have made your life difficult for a while, but you cannot deny that you made things harder on yourself than I ever did. The only advice I have to you is to listen more than you speak. It is amazing what you can hear if you keep your mouth closed. The only person I know who can talk and listen at the same time is Stiles, and no one will ever be able to attain that level of skill. What I leave to you is a threat. You know what I said to you when you came to me seeking forgiveness, and the threat still stands. Don’t think that I will find a way to follow through from the afterlife. As you know I am very resourceful and know many things that you can’t even dream of. Hurt the pack, and I won’t hesitate.” Scott looks a bit angry for most of his part, but he mellows out at the end and actually looks somewhat like a kicked puppy. Peter’s words are harsh, but they are none the less true. Hopefully Scott will keep treading the path he has set before himself. If he does the pack will be more than willing to let him stay. 

“Isaac, continue to defend the pack and you will make a fine second to Derek. No one has brought this up, and they probably never would have, but I will. Even though I had more experience, you were always Derek’s second in command. At least after Stiles that is. You showed your true character on many occasions. You were the first wolf to truly accept me into the pack, even before Derek himself did. You tried your best to include me and even though you were uncomfortable around me you didn’t let that stop you. You have lived a hard life and no one should have to have suffered what you have. That being said let more than Derek and Stiles in. When that ‘special someone’ comes around, don’t be afraid to let it happen. In that way you are like Derek. Don’t resist your instincts. They haven’t lead you astray yet, and knowing you they never will. In any other case ask our Little Red. He will know what to say. He always does.” Isaac looks taken aback by his words, and then blushes a bit when that ‘special someone’ is mentioned. Allison blushes a little bit too, but I think Derek and I are the only two who notice the way that they won’t meet each other’s eyes. 

“Speaking of ‘special someone’s’, Allison dear, never again assume that you are not part of this pack. Without you the pack may have never happened. I know that you helped to destroy me the first time, and I want to thank you for that. I was a monster in the truest sense of the word. You helped to end my reign of terror and aided me to become the man I was before my second untimely death. You helped to show me that not every Hunter is untrustworthy and that your past and family don’t have to be the things that define you. Like everyone else in the pack you suffered much pain in your life, but you never let it stop you from doing the right thing. Even when it would have been so easy to stray from the path you were on. You had many options and opportunities, but you stayed true and helped Stiles even when you didn’t fully understand everything that was going on around you. Keep that loyalty, and don’t let your past keep you from finding your future.” Like Isaac she is shocked at the words Peter has left for her, but I’m not. While Peter may not have said any of this out loud I know that this is truly how he felt. He may not have let all of his emotions through to me, but what he did only goes to reaffirm that these words are the truth.

“To Erica and Boyd. While it pains me to say, I never really took the time to get to know the two of you. I could tell that you were always uncomfortable around me, and even though you didn’t let that keep you from trusting me, I can understand why we were never close. I know that Boyd will stay as stoic as a tree growing in the forest, and that Erica will remain as wild as the wind in a storm. You balance each other out. As for Erica, don’t let Stiles do anything too rash. While I know you are not the most level headed person in the pack, I do know that you will do almost anything to protect him. Don’t let either of your insecurities stop you from being a part of this pack. In many ways you are part of the backbone of it. Two Mates at opposite ends of the spectrum, pushing and pulling each other to better yourselves. Don’t lose that as the pack continues to grow.” Erica’s smile is almost feral in its nature, but that isn’t so uncommon. Boyd remains his calm self, but there is small twitch to his lip that betrays his inner thoughts. Peter has spoken pretty candidly to everyone, something he did even before his death, but now he holds nothing back. I am almost afraid for what is to come next. 

“Cora. Dear Cora. As sad as I am to say it, I don’t really trust you.” A low growl comes from her at the words, and Derek takes the letter from my hand to read it instead of me. Coming from him she might take it better, but what Peter is going to say I feel is only what the rest of us already think. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I am happy that you are back and with family again. I am beyond overjoyed that you somehow managed to survive the fire and lived. But you have refused to join the pack. The others want you to be a part of it and not just stand on the outskirts anymore. I am afraid that if you don’t you will never know what it means to be truly pack, and the others may never accept you into their ranks. Derek will never let you go without a fight, and will protect you as much as he would any of the others, but if you are unwilling to let them in, I am afraid that it will only hurt you in the end. Talk to them. Tell them where you have been since the fire, what you have been through. As Derek can tell you, talking helps, and you have a whole pack full of people that will be more than willing to listen. Some more than others. I might suggest Isaac or Stiles, but really anyone will do. Join in on the ‘puppy piles’ and run with them on the full moon. Become a full member of the pack, and don’t let it be by name that you manage to stay. I am sorry that I am not there to help you along with this, and that you had to come back to less family than you should have. For the Hales, it’s only you and Derek left. Don’t let the name get tarnished because you are reluctant to let the others in. What I leave for you is a locket in the safe at my apartment. It has a picture of your father and of you and your siblings in it. It was your mother’s and now it’s yours. Let it remind you of what you have and not of what you have lost.” Derek looks hopeful while he is reading this. Everything Peter said was true and Cora seems to know that. She shifted away from Boyd a bit, but that only brought her closer to my father who drops a hand to her shoulder. She is surprised by the action, but lets his hand stay there. There is more of a contemplative look to her face as she internally goes over everything that Peter left for her. I hope that this will let her open up to one of us soon. We need to be able to trust her, especially with two forces gunning for us. Derek goes to hand the letter back to me, but I let Derek keep reading. I don’t really want to read the part that had to do with me to myself, but the next name said catches me off guard.

“Jon. I know that you are there listening to this. You have been adopted into the pack, and for that I am glad. They are just a bunch of teenagers who don’t really know what they are doing half the time. While I never had the pleasure to talk to you face to face, and caused you more trouble than anything else, I am glad that you are there for them. Stiles had become a great man, and had one hell of an example to learn from. I am sorry that I made a mess for you that you couldn’t figure out, and that I helped to drive a wedge between you and your son. That is not a bond that I wish to tamper with. While he may never say it to your face, Derek looks to you as a father figure. I have seen his face when you call him ‘son’ and every time it makes him burn with pride that you would think of him as such. That goes for Isaac as well. There isn’t much else I can say to you seeing as we didn’t really know each other, but I implore you, even though it is unnecessary, to look after them. They need a father figure to make sure that they don’t pull stupid stunts and do things that could be considered questionable. On the other side of that, remember that they are kids, and that they will make mistakes, and the fact that they are so embroiled in the supernatural world, much of what happens and their actions in turn will be unavoidable. Have the patience I know you possess, and everything will be fine.” Dad actually smiles at his words. Most of it is stuff he already knew, and would have done anyway, but I like that the fact Peter took time to acknowledge him and said his piece to the Sheriff. 

“The last person I have to talk to in this morbid letter that I had the misfortune of writing is Stiles, or as I affectionately call him, Little Red. By the way, someone must keep calling him that. I am making it my only wish. Jackson, I think I can count on you for this. You do like to rile him up once in a while. I would dearly appreciate it.” The whole pack laughs at this, I grumble a little bit, but knowing that I’ll never hear him call me that again actually makes me a bit sad. “Anyway, I have so much I want to tell you. Most of which I wish for the others to not hear, and none of which I will actually say. It is inappropriate and even I in death won’t besmirch the friendship you showed me when no one else did. You helped my nephew even when you didn’t know him. You felt the connection to him and didn’t let him go even when he tried to suppress it himself. You made sure that I was taken care of when I was at my worst, and aided Derek during those trying months. When he pushed you away, you fought to be there for him. Without you this pack wouldn’t exist. Things would have gone drastically different had you not intervened the way you did. “

“You kept Scott from making many mistakes, and even when he did, you showed a sense of loyalty that most wolves aren’t even capable of. You remained friends with Allison when things were getting hard for the both of you and you never let what was happening compromise your morals. Even though I offered you the bite I am glad that you didn’t take it. You are as strong and fierce as any wolf I have known, more so than most of them. You kept the pack together when it was falling apart, and you let me in when I didn’t truly deserve it. When we were backed into a corner you came out fighting and never let the others feel like things were out of control even when they were. You ground the pack in a way that no other I have ever met in my many travels across the world. I am the most sorry to you for all the pain and sorrow I put you through. For you were the most undeserving of it all. You had a choice to not be a part of this world, you have had many chances to leave and never look back, yet here you are. My dear little red.”

“I leave to you my knowledge. Well at least what I have in a physical form of it anyway. In my apartment you will find enough books to fill that library you were so instant on having. Most of them hold dangerous properties so use them sparingly and wisely. But many of them will bequeath information that I dearly wished to share with you myself. It is my hope that you will continue to grow and learn and expand on everything that I had to teach you. It was selfish of me to hold the lore and gen that I held so close to myself. I always told you what you needed to know when you needed to know it, but I had so much more to offer you. “

“Stay the man you are, grow into the greatness that I know awaits you, and never let anyone sway you in your beliefs. Derek needs you most of all. He has lived probably the hardest life of all of you, has lost the most, and has the most to lose again. You have been good for him, and I don’t want the two of you to miss out on every opportunity life brings you. I would like to think that if my own daughter would have lived to see the life that she was meant for, that she would have grown to be like you. I know that I have said much in this, my last will and testament, but if everything else is ignored please know that I treasured the way you brought life to the Hale family again. You kept the flickering flame alive and turned it into a roaring blaze. For that I will be eternally grateful to you. Remember that there is no stronger bond than the ones you hold with the pack and let your heart guide you in the things you do with your life. Never hesitate or question yourself. Darkness looms around every corner, but you hold within you a light strong enough to banish it from the people around you. Keep the blaze going and share it with others. I could not ask for anything else from you.” I can’t look at anyone in the pack. Not even Derek. My head is buried in his neck and the silent tears are flowing freely from my eyes. He keeps one arm wrapped around me while he continues to read with hitched breath. I didn’t know that Peter thought so highly of me, and to find out now is heart shattering. I wish I had more time with him to hear him speak, to teach me more of what he knew. Derek takes a moment before he continues and I can feel Isaac, Erica, and Allison sitting around us now all with hands on my back and thighs giving me silent comfort. My father stands with his hand still on Cora’s shoulder, but the support is going the other way now. The others sit together in a pile on the sofa sending me their own comforting thoughts. But I am unable to thank them or let any acknowledgement of their actions. When Peter died it felt like I lost a limb, and the feeling has only returned tenfold. 

“Now that the sentimentalities are done, if any of you screw up and end up anywhere that I will be able to reach you in the afterlife, know that I will torment you forever. I’ll consider it a great joy. Don’t screw up and make the same mistakes I did. And really, don’t die. It isn’t all the enjoyable.” Everyone is both buoyed and pulled down at his final words. They are the last of his thoughts that we will hear. Slowly we all stand and everyone, even Cora, gets in on a group hug that lasts longer than we probably need, but no one wants to move away from the comfort that it gives. 

Slowly we break apart and everyone decides that it’s time to go home. Isaac and Cora can tell that Derek and I need some time to ourselves so they leave with the others, Cora with Boyd, and Isaac with Allison not so surprisingly, leaving Derek and I the house to ourselves for the night. We both need it. I can feel the hurt and insecurity that is coming off of him and I am sure I am putting out the same feelings. He takes my hand and silently leads me up the stairs to our bathroom where he fills the tub with water at the temperature I love, throwing in some bath salts that I pick up to help for relaxation. As the tub fills with water, he strips both of us of our clothing. He needs to do this so I let him knowing that every touch is filled with more than just love. We get in the water and he gets behind me so I can lean against him and rest on his firm chest. Lazily he washes our bodies and makes sure to always have a firm hold on my arm, wrist, waist, or chest. This is his way of reassuring himself that I am here and that I am real. I don’t need to say anything so I don’t. I just let him continue his ministrations and relax into his touch.

I think we spend about an hour in the bath and I don’t even know what time it is anymore, only that it’s dark outside and that I need Derek more than I ever have before. I need to feel him in me and feel his presence surround me like an ache in my bones. I think he feels the same way, or at least feels what I need. He lifts me out of the tub and sets me down on the toilet seat while he dries himself off and then proceeds to dry me off as well. As soon as the water stops running down my body and my hair is fluffed by the towel he lifts me again and carries me to our bed. I don’t know why he feels the need to move me, but at the same time I almost feel too tired to resist him. But it isn’t a sleepy tired, it’s emotionally. 

(Start)________________________________________________________________________________

As soon as he lays me on the bed he goes to move away, but I don’t let him. I hold him tight and he stays resting his head in the crook of my neck scenting me all over again vigorously. His tongue lashes out to swipe at my pulse point and lap up my neck, and then continues to suck marks onto my skin hard enough that they will bruise me longer than normal. While his mouth is busy at my neck, my hands scratch into his back and kneed at the muscles there, as his hand roam my torso grabbing at my ribs and hips with a bruising grasp. Slowly we start to rut against each other but neither one of us wants to break the hold we have on the other to move faster than we are. 

His hands unhurriedly move to cup my ass and pulls me closer to him as he grinds down against me. Small whimpers escape my mouth as the pressure increases and the pleasure grows. “Need you inside me. Need to feel you.” His breath hitches at my words and the pressure he exudes only increases and the tempo of his thrusts makes me feel like I am about to come undone at any second. He senses that I’m close and reluctantly lowers himself down my body laving at every bit of skin he can reach on his way, slowly taking me into his mouth. Both of my hands find their way into his hair as he swallows me down. It doesn’t take long for me to find my release in the hot wetness of his mouth, and he swallows all that I offer him without complaint and continues to suckle me until it become unbearable because of sensitivity that comes following bliss. I am still hard and haven’t gone down a bit, not something that normally occurs even with my teenage sex drive, but he starts up with his tongue again and lowers it to the dip in my hip and continues going down until he reaches my balls and goes even further to find my waiting hole. This isn’t something we have ever done, not something that we have really talked about, which is surprising on the number kinks we have talked about. I didn’t know it was something that he would want, but if he wants to rim me who I am I to stop him.

He lifts one of my legs and exposes me to him and then starts lapping at it, the sensation is like nothing I have ever felt before, and it is amazing. His tongue starts with simple licking motions but as he grows bolder it starts to dip into the ring of muscle and penetrates me as far as he can go. The angle and position don’t allow for what he could do, but neither one of us is willing to move from where we are. A common theme of the night for the both of us. When he does start to move to grab the lube I stop him I don’t want that tonight. I don’t know what it is that has come over me, but I don’t want anything unnatural to come between us. When my hand latches onto his wrist he looks at me confused. “I don’t want that. Just you. Please?”

“But I’ll hurt you.” I shake my head in response. He doesn’t want to but I let my feelings flow across our bond and he relents going back down to make sure that he leaves enough saliva there to the job required. After a while I start to squirm wanting more than just his tongue and his fingers, and he knows it. He crawls back up my body and lifts my legs a bit so he can get the right angle to enter me. Between his ministrations and the precome he is leaking there is more than enough natural lube for him to glide easily into me. He starts off slow, worried that he will hurt me, but I bring my legs to wrap around his waist and pull him in me faster than he was going. As he bottoms out he lets out a grunt in surprise.

“Move. Please.” I am begging him now. I need to feel every thrust and movement he makes. I need to know that he is there and alive and real. He complies with what I want knowing that I want it hard and fast. We have had our times of slow and passionate, but that is not what either of us needs tonight. Tonight we need to feel each other, and be connected. He lowers himself to pull me into his arms as he thrusts into me almost violently and I can feel his claws slowing coming to the surface. As I stare into his eyes, they burn that beautiful silver and violet combination. They look almost feral tonight as he keeps going. In the morning it is going to be hard to sit, but right now it is more than worth it. 

I can tell that he is trying to hold the wolf back and not let it through, but that isn’t what I need right now. I need to feel all of him. “Derek, don’t hold back. Not tonight. Please, I need all of you.” A whimper escapes his throat and he is fighting an internal battle with himself on whether or not to let the wolf show. “Please, Derek.” I am pleading with him. I need it all, and with a moan he lets loose. The transformation takes over and he shifts into his Beta form. His claws trace delicately on my skin, ever so careful never to pierce it, and I pull him into a furious kiss around his fangs. I let my own primal instincts come out and don’t hold back just like I don’t want him to. His thrusting becomes more, it is insistent and relentless. 

I can feel my hard cock rubbing between our stomachs and the friction is enough that I am close to my second release of the night. But Derek gets there before me. His thrusts become shallower and his knot starts to grow. I am so glad that it makes an appearance tonight. I need to be tied to him for as long as it will keep us together. With one final thrust it expands to full size and he starts to let go inside me and that causes my own orgasm to rocket through me, tightening down on his knot. We are both screaming and roaring into the night as our passion overtakes us.   
(End)_________________________________________________________________________________

As we both come down from our highs, he shifts back to his human form and nuzzles in close to me. Normally when he knots me we are in a spooning position, but tonight we are in missionary and there is no way that we can shift. His knot feels bigger than usual. “Sorry if I hurt you, I couldn’t stop.”

“Derek, it was what I needed. I needed to feel all of that. Yeah I might be sore tomorrow, but right now, I am more than content.” He huffs into my neck. “What you don’t believe me?”

“No, I do. I just…”

“I know. Me too.” He can’t say it but he has felt everything that I have tonight. The need to be close to one another, to really feel each other. 

“I miss him. I didn’t think I would, but I do.” 

I stroke his hair as he breathes into my neck soaking up our combined scents. “It’s okay. Even though he wasn’t always himself, he tried at the end. He died a hero’s death. He saved you. He did what he had to, to protect us. Now we can carry him on in our memories. Both the good and the bad.”

Normally after sex less enthusiastic than this I am ready to fall asleep, but now I am wide awake and not wanting to sleep at all. I just want to keep touching and holding Derek to me. And he seems to feel the same. His knot usually only lasts half an hour at the most, but tonight it takes almost a full hour for it to go down to the point that he can slip from me. We don’t climax again but the feeling of him inside me is all I needed. Even after he pulls out of me, his knot is still noticeable for another twenty minutes. I don’t know what has caused it to last so long, but I am not going to question it right now. He curls himself around me and rests his head on my shoulder and I hold him in a one arm embrace and continue to run my fingers through his hair until he falls asleep. 

Usually I am the one to fall asleep first, no matter how hard I try to outlast him. Rarely do I get so to see him sleep. He looks so much younger when he is at peace. And it breaks my heart all over again that he has had to lead the life he did. I wish I could have been there when he met Kate for the first time if nothing else to let him know that I was there. I wish that I could take all the pain away from his life and let him live in happiness and bliss without ever knowing the pain of loss. I can’t even give that to him now. Deucalion won’t rest until he gets his way. I don’t know yet how we are going to deal with that threat, but I know that Derek and I will protect the pack with everything we have. I just hope that it won’t cost us the lives of anyone else in the pack or either one of us. As much as a wolf becomes devastated at the loss of their Mate, I think I might actually go insane should anything like that happen to Derek. I wouldn’t rest until I had gotten revenge. Not something I would normally do. I would kill whoever took him from me. And then I would slip into a nonliving state. Devastated wouldn’t even be a good enough description of how I would feel. But I can’t think like that right now. Now I have to try and find a way for Cora to embrace the pack, to keep the others safe, and make sure that the Alphas leave without causing any more destruction in their wake. So I hold Derek tightly to me and let his presences lull me into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was hard for me to write. I wasn't sure at first what Peter would say to each member of the pack. So I wanted everything said to come from the heart that I gave Peter in his regained sanity. Writing Peter was always so much fun for me because i got to be snarky and sarcastic in a way I hadn't really made Stiles. Stiles gained a bit of seriousness about him in this series and it was a necessary thing to be done with what he was dealing with. He retained his personality, it just evolved into something more. 
> 
> When I wrote this I laughed and was really happy with it's outcome. When I went back through (twice) for editing, i found myself crying, mostly at the parts where Peter addresses Derek, Lydia, Jackson and Stiles. I don't really know what to think of it, but I had no clue my own words could affect me that way, so I am sorry yet not sorry for any tears I may have caused writing this. It also wasn't until I was finished writing this that I realized that in my AU Peter was somewhat in love with Stiles. I am not really a fan of that pairing, but somehow I managed to write it one-sided in this fic. Those would be some of the things that Peter wouldn't wish for the others to hear and what he would never say. 
> 
> Lastly is the sex. I have always thought if Stiles would like to have sex with Derek shifted, and while writing this fic, it never really made sense. But the kind of sex they have here I think warrants what I did. I am not going to write bestiality, but this was intense for both of them. The larger than normal knot only plays on Derek's need for closeness. There will not be any mpreg in this story. I could not keep the level of seriousness that I have maintained up to this point and put it in. There will be an epilogue and kids will be discussed there so worry not. 
> 
> As always I am overjoyed at all of the continuing support that you all show me through my journey in this monsterous project I put upon myself. I always love to hear what you have to say, so please let me know what you think, whether it be good or bad. And thank you for your ongoing support! I am currently working on my next fic so if you liked this one, please check it out!


	8. Chapter 8

Only a few days pass until the next major drama happens. And this is not one that I am happy with, like seriously pissed off about, not that I am happy about any kind of drama. Scott sends me a text that Danny came into the hospital with Ethan and that he threw up mistletoe. Ms. M. saved him with her awesome healing powers but he will be out of it for a few days. Then he goes on to tell me that there two doctors missing. And all I can think about is the fact that the next sacrifices to be made are Healers. 

Dad gets a call to go to the hospital and I know that something is up. Isaac and Erica are here at my place while Derek and Cora go to the loft to pick up a few things. But I can’t wait around here and sit silently just to hear what is going on. So we decide to go to the hospital ourselves. Plus if anyone wonders why we’re there, we can say that we are there to visit Danny. Also, Scott probably talked to Ethan and I want to know what he had to say.

Once we get there Scott comes over to us and says that Ethan was with Danny and that if Ethan hadn’t been there Danny would probably be dead right now. This just goes to prove that Ethan really does care about Danny. Just gives one more reason for Ethan to think about his options. Then Scott tells me that while he and Ethan were talking a vehicle belonging to one of the missing doctors came into the parking lot without a driver. When they opened the door there was a moth on the seat. After a close inspection and letting my senses expand over the moth, I can tell that this isn’t your garden variety bug. “This moth isn’t natural, it was magically created. I don’t know how exactly, but the Darach is definitely to blame.” Healers are the target that the Darach is working on now, but why target Danny? He isn’t a Healer. Why would the Darach attack him? Dad comes over after he gets off the phone. Apparently they found a body. Oh joy. 

We visit Danny even though he is unconscious and as we are getting ready to leave Derek calls me. “What’s wrong?”

“Well the Darach is making more sacrifices and Danny was poisoned with mistletoe. I don’t know why, but he was targeted. I don’t even know what is going on anymore. I feel like we are always three steps behind. Please tell me that you have good news. Please?” He is quiet for a little too long. Pinching the bridge of my nose I try to mentally prepare myself for what is to come. “Okay, lay it on me big guy.”

“When Cora and I went to the loft, the Alpha’s symbol has been renewed on the window. They are coming for us. Soon.” So maybe I start to panic and my breathing starts to come in a little shallower. Isaac and Erica promptly start to try and calm me down the way that I told them too should I ever start to have a panic attack. “Stiles, we are not going to let anything happen. We will be fine. Cora is going to spend the night with Boyd and you and I are going to stay with your father. “

“I’ll stay too.” Isaac throws and arm over my shoulders and I lean into it giving him a silent thanks. 

“Scott called me and he, Jackson, and Lydia are staying at the McCall house to make sure that Mellissa is okay. Stiles, everything will be okay.” I know he is worried about me, but I am just as worried about him. Deucalion will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and what he wants is Derek in his pack. But it is a double edged sword. In order for Derek to join his band of killers, he has to kill every member in his pack. Including me. Even if Derek were to do that, he would drive himself to his own death. There is no way that it can happen. 

“Okay, I’ll see you at Dad’s.” Erica leaves to go over to Boyd’s and Isaac stays with me. Derek is already there waiting on the front porch for us. As soon as I am out of the jeep he has me in his arms and I grab him back just as aggressively. It seems lately that words have lost some meaning between us. Not that they aren’t worth it, or that they don’t mean anything, only that they are superfluous. We can read each other so well now that silence speaks volumes. Isaac goes to run a perimeter around the neighborhood to make sure he doesn’t pick up any scents that shouldn’t be there. Alphas can hide their scents, and sometimes they change, but I am pretty sure that this group of psychopaths wouldn’t do that. They want us afraid. They want us to be scared into submission. It won’t happen, but that is what they are going for. 

We make our way into the house and wait for Isaac to return. Dad won’t be home till late, but just knowing that the pack is there does wonders for my own peace of mind. I make a few cups of hot chocolate for us and we tuck into the living room to wait my father’s return. 

He doesn’t get back till about midnight and by then the three of us are asleep on the couch. Well Isaac and I fell asleep. Derek was his usual creepy self and watched us sleep. Dad says that the body that was found was one of the doctors. He was suffocated. Dad won’t say anything more about the case, and I can tell it is more from frustration than anything else. This is the only one in a string of murders where they can’t find the killer. This isn’t the first time this happened either. But it is the first time that he is in on the supernatural world. There isn’t really anything I can say to make him feel better so I just let him wander off to bed and pull Derek to our own. Isaac takes the guest bedroom, knowing that I need Derek for comfort tonight. Just the two of us again. We haven’t had much time alone in the last few months, and now I am trying to soak up as much of it as I can. It takes a while for me to fall back asleep, but Derek holds me and doesn’t lighten his grip until I am able to drift off.

…

Going to school the next day is a chore in and of itself. I mean, who wants to pay attention and learn when danger is just around the freaking corner. They still haven’t gotten a replacement for Mr. Harris so Miss Blake is teaching our class today. Even though she really has no clue what is going on, and goes to say as much. When my phone starts buzzing in my pocket I am surprised to say the least. The whole pack is in school, so thinking that it must be Derek I pull it out. When Deaton’s name is on the screen instead I am hesitant to answer at all. Really does this man not get that I want nothing to do with him. Miss Blake isn’t paying attention to anyone so I answer snidely. “Really doc? Are you calling to give me a prediction or just to bother me again?”

“Stiles, I am sorry that I am contacting you in this manner, but it seems that I don’t have much of a choice. I’m going to be taken. And I need for you to find me.”

“What!” I go to ask more questions, but the line goes dead. Now I have two things to be worried about today. Derek decided to wait out the Alphas at the loft to see what it is they want, and the most of the wolves decided to go to him and try to help as best they can. They came up with this idea about water and electricity that I hope they can pull off. Scott choose to stay at school with us humans just to make sure the twins wouldn’t start anything, but they aren’t in school today either. When I tell the others what Deaton said he leaves to go and check the clinic. I call my dad to let him know what is going on and hope that we can catch this one before it happens. Deaton may piss me off more often than not, but I don’t wish the man dead. 

I decide to stay at school to try and figure out where the Darach would take Deaton, but really I have no idea of where to start. Morrell approaches me in the hallway before I am able to make it to my next class and says that in order to find Deaton I will have to get help from the one person who can search out the supernatural. Lydia. I guess it’s time to tell her what she really is. I have been wanting to put off this particular conversation as I am not sure how she will handle it. Banshees aren’t what most people think of, I mean yes they do have the wail, but they are not the ones who cause death. They are the ones who sense it and can search it out. They hold a few other properties too, but those are more inconsequential at this time.

Lydia doesn’t want to be pulled from class, but she can tell that this is urgent so she meets with me in an unused classroom. “So, I need your help. As you know Deaton has been taken and will be sacrificed so we need to find him before that can happen.”

“Okay, how can I help?”

“Well, I think I may have figured out what it is you are exactly.”

“And what would that be?” She looks calm as ever, but I can feel the buzz beneath her skin that belies her nervousness and anxiousness. 

“Lydia, I am pretty sure that you are a Banshee. And I know that you have read the Bestiary multiple times so that isn’t as scary as it sounds.”

“No, not really, just the fact that I can sense death and magic. I mean it all makes sense now, but still.” Then she starts to mutter. “Of course it had to deal with death. As if there isn’t enough of that around here.”

“Lyds, listen to me. This isn’t a bad thing. No one really knows how a Banshee is created, but most people seem to believe that it is a bloodline thing. So it has been passed down through your mother’s side. It always comes from the mother. You are probably the first Banshee in your family for the last two hundred years. That’s pretty impressive and such a you thing to do.” She eats up the compliments and lets them calm her down somewhat.

“Okay, so what do you want me to do?” 

“I’m not sure. I don’t know how your powers work. Try to get back into the mindset of when you found that first sacrifice. You said you were driving and going to the store but ended up at the pool instead. Try to get to that feeling and see if it’s enough to let you feel out where Deaton might be.” I get a text from dad and look at it while Lydia tries to focus. 

‘they found another body. It is was the other missing doc. Just wanted to keep you informed.’

Things can never just go our way for once can they. Nope. “Stiles, I don’t think this is working.” Sigh. I delve into telling her how a scrying spell works and see if that might help her figure things out. Really we can’t force this to happen. Banshee’s powers come from nature and either it happens or it doesn’t. I mean she hasn’t sensed every death that Beacon Hills has had, she would be insane if she had. She tries for ten more minutes without success. “I can’t get this. I don’t even know why you’re asking me when you should be asking Danny.” She was drawing in her notebook as she said this. It is the picture of a tree. The same one she has been drawing for the last few weeks. And at first I want to ask her what the tree is, then I want to ask why I should be talking to Danny. But it hits me. Danny was targeted, but wasn’t a sacrifice. That means that the Darach thought he was a threat of some kind. Maybe he knows something and doesn’t realize it. 

So now I have to skip school so I can go and see Danny. My attendance is getting really spotty thanks to these Alpha jerks and the damn Darach. Good thing I am smart enough to be able to keep up. Major study sessions for the wolves will have to be implemented after all this is over. 

Scott comes rushing in back from the clinic saying that he just had a run in with Deucalion. I’m not really sure what he wants with Scott though. Maybe he thinks that since he is the weakest point of the pack that he can crack him under enough pressure. All Scott says is that Kali and the twins are going to be going after Derek. My attention is split again, but Deaton is in some pretty great danger right now, and I can’t let the Darach continue making these sacrifices. It’s my duty as someone possessing the Gift to stop them. So I send a message to Dad saying that I have to leave school for a bit. He says that he will call me off, and tells me to stay safe. 

Then as if that isn’t enough on top of everything else, I get a message from Allison saying she thinks she found something on her father’s desk. I can’t go, I have to go to Danny, so I ask her if it’s okay that I send Scott. She isn’t happy about it, I can tell, but she agrees. I tell her sorry, but we are spreading ourselves a little thinly here. And I know she understands. She wants the pack safe just like the rest of us. So I wish her good luck and head out to the hospital.

…

When I get there Danny is passed out and I don’t really want to wake him, so I start looking through his bag hoping that the answers to the universe will be there and just pop out at me. When I get to his physics paper about the Telluric Currents, I know that this is what I was looking for. I text Lydia, Allison, and Scott and tell them to meet up with me at Deaton’s clinic if they can all make it. Allison says they can, and that they will share what she found with us then. 

I start to get this rolling feeling in the pit of my stomach and I know it’s from the wolves. I text Derek, but he doesn’t answer me which only gets me more worried. But Erica doesn’t let me down. She sends me a message that says they have everything under control. I know it’s a lie and that they are only placating me, but there isn’t much I can do about it now. I keep thinking it over and over again, but I can’t be in two places at once. I looked up that spell, it doesn’t exist. I hate that I am so helpless to do anything for them right now. Fighting two enemies sucks. Don’t they know that we should only be fighting one at a time?

I get to the clinic and the others are there waiting for me. I pull out the paper and say that Danny didn’t even know what he was working on. The Currents are geomagnetic fields that flow through the earth. They can be affected by the lunar phases and they probably have some magical properties too. I mean there are certain places on earth where magic is stronger than others. Avalon, El Dorado, and Shangri-La are places that people with the Gift have closed off from the rest of the world because of the high concentration of power they bring to us. 

“And on top of all of that, Harris left a pretty big note on Danny’s proposal for the paper. ‘I strongly advise you to choose another subject. The ideas here, while innovative and thoughtful, border on pseudo-science not suitable for class.’ So apparently Harris must have known something. He wasn’t just another sacrifice. He knew the Darach was out there and was trying to cover up for them, but then learned too much or something. He became a liability and had to be gotten rid of.” Danny has a marked map with the Currents on it and I spread it out so the others can see. That is when Allison pulls out the map pieces she has from what she found on her father’s desk. Apparently he has been keeping track secretly of where the deaths occur and where they are taken from. When we start to mark them on Danny’s map, the places they are taken and where they are killed all land on the lines of the currents. Then they notice that the bank is on one of the lines. That must be where he is. I mean it is the only place we know of. Allison and Scott go to free him. And I text my dad to let him know that he should probably get there as fast as he can.

The whole time that we are talking about the Currents and lines and places, this feeling of dread has been crawling up my spine. The fight isn’t going in Derek’s favor. And when I check my phone Erica has sent me another text. ‘the twins have miss blake and they threatened to kill her unless Derek fought Kali one on one. They knocked out the power and ruined the plan. Might want to get here as fast as you can.’

I look at Lydia and toss her my keys. There is no way I will be able to drive there. Not with the pain coming through the bond. I don’t dare take more than I can handle, but it isn’t enough. I am worried about the Betas, but also for Miss Blake. I don’t trust her really, but if she is just an innocent bystander then I don’t want her hurt either. Once we get to the loft building, I text Erica that we are turning the power on. I can feel Derek and Boyd both get the shock from the plan that the pack had set up, and then my chest feels empty again. Like when Peter died. Boyd’s life is slowly leaving him. He is slowly dying. And all I can think is no, not again!

We race up the stairs and pass the twins as we go. I can feel what they have done. I know that they held Derek as Kali dropped Boyd onto his unsheathed claws. But I also feel their remorse and sorrow. They wanted no part of this plan. I can’t spare them any time though. One of my pack mates is on the verge of death. I need to get to him, so I don’t even hesitate as Lydia and I race past them on our way up the stairs. 

As soon as I get to the open door of the loft, I see Jackson holding Miss Blake. Erica, Cora, and Isaac are crowded around Boyd’s limp body and Derek is kneeling on the floor in the water with such a look of pain and guilt on his face. It is a look that I never wanted to see there again. The memories of it were too much. To see it now breaks me over and over again. Boyd is almost gone. 

Then a determination comes over me. I refuse to lose another pack member. Not if I can do something about it. “Jackson, Lydia, get Miss Blake out of here. Make sure she gets home.” They hesitate to leave, so I give them a little encouragement. “GO!” Some of the Alpha tone comes out in my voice, but they get to their feet and Miss Blake gives one last look of sorrow to the pack before she is ushered out of the loft. Then I walk over to kneel in-between Derek and Boyd. Erica keeps her arms around Boyd, but Isaac and Cora back off just a bit. “Derek, I need your help on this. We will not lose him. I refuse to let him go. I transfer Boyd to Derek’s arms and Erica is reluctant to loosen her grasp, but she still holds him even after he is Derek’s grasp. I rip off his shirt revealing the puncture wounds and lay each of my fingers over each wound. All the healing power I have learned is summoned from the core of my power and I push it into Boyd willing him to survive, willing him to draw breath again, willing him to live. Derek takes hold of my arm and Erica grabs onto my hand over Boyd lending me their own strength. 

It’s then that I realize I can draw power from the pack. It is a dangerous thing to do, but I know that if I don’t do everything in my and their power to heal him, none of us will be able to forgive me. So I tap into the pack bonds and draw the strength and power needed to heal our fallen pack member. Isaac and Cora draw nearer as well and place their own hands on my shoulders. I can feel the raw power like nothing I have felt before. All of it flows through me, I am just the conduit. Boyd is where it all flows too, and I give it willingly and forcefully. Eventually it seems to be working, we are all tiring, but then Boyd draws breathe again, it is a sharp intake and I let the power fall away. He’s alive. Erica has him wrapped up in her arms crushing him to her. Isaac and Cora step back. Isaac from happiness, and Cora from almost fear. But I don’t have time to examine those feelings because I am being pulled into a pair of strong arms and then I realize how faint I actually feel. I can feel sharp stabs of pain where each of Boyd’s wounds were, but it was all worth it. 

Derek pulls everyone close and holds us together as tightly as he can. “You saved him. I killed him and you brought him back to life.” The tears are running freely down his face, and all I can do is weakly raise my hand to wipe them away and kiss him gently letting him know that none of it was his fault. 

I hear my phone go off, but I am too tired to check it. Isaac gets that and pulls it out to read it. “It’s from Allison. She says that they saved Deaton, and that the Sheriff is there to help him get to the hospital to make sure he’s okay.” With that I breathe a sigh of relief and fall into Derek. I feel sluggish and exhausted. 

“Isaac tell everyone to meet up at the house. We need to have a pack meeting, and to be together tonight. Everyone can plan on sleeping there. Even Jon and Mellissa.” Isaac nods and starts sending off messages while Derek picks me up and starts to head towards the stairs. Erica and Cora are supporting Boyd, who can actually walk on his own, but they aren’t taking any chances. Now it’s time to head home.

…

I think I passed out on the way to the house because when I come too I am in the middle of a large puppy pile and light was shining through the windows. Last time I knew it was dark out. I must have slept all through the night. Slowly the rest of the pack starts to wake around me. Derek has his arms around me and Boyd is on my other side with his head resting on my shoulder. Everyone is packed in pretty close and even though they are waking up no one is making any motions to get up. Even Dad and Ms. M. are here sleeping on the couch. Cora is even joined in with all of us on the floor. I can tell that they didn’t talk about anything last night so I guess we will be doing that now. But I think breakfast is in order first. Or at least while we talk. I let myself lie here for a few more minutes before the pressure on my bladder becomes too much and I have to get up. The pack groans collectively with I am the first to move but the promise of pancakes has them all shutting up pretty quick. 

After I finish in the bathroom I go into the kitchen to start breakfast and Derek is already in there pulling out meat to start frying on the grill top I had installed next to the stove. I can smell coffee brewing and he already has a glass of orange juice poured for me on the counter. Skipping over the juice I head straight to him and pull him into a kiss. Who really cares about morning breath anyway? He growls lightly into the kiss and I can’t help but smile as I pull away and start to pull the ingredients together to make a massive batch of pancakes. 

It doesn’t take long for each pack member to walk through the kitchen to grab coffee or plates and silverware to set the table with. Don’t even have to ask. Pack is love. And after the scares we’ve had it has only brought us closer. After I get a boat load of pancakes made, all kinds. Blueberry, chocolate chip, pecan, plain. We have tons of toppings and everyone is happy. At least for now. I hate to be the one to bring the mood down, but I feel that it is kind of my job to make sure the important stuff gets talked about. “So I think we have a few things to talk about.” That gets everyone to calm down. “I know that we are all pretty happy and content that we didn’t lose another member of the pack. But the fact that we almost did is major. There is an eclipse coming soon and I think that, that should be when we make our move. All of you wolves will be effectively human while it is happening. Deucalion will probably be expecting this kind of move, but I think that it will be our best option. They are stronger than normal Alphas and there is no way we can overpower them. I don’t have a plan yet, but until then I think it would be best if Boyd stayed off the grid. As far as the Alpha’s know you are dead. And I think we should keep it that way. It might be hard to keep up a charade of grief and mourning, but I think we should try.”

The pack doesn’t seem too happy about it, but they all seem to agree. Boyd says that he will stay at the house unless he is needed elsewhere. He just has to go home and grab a few things. Dad tells us that they found a third body. It was the last missing doctor. The Healers are done, only six left. I am worried about how strong these sacrifices are going to make the Darach, but right now we need to center ourselves on the pack. Everyone starts to make off to go and do whatever it is they have to. It’s a Saturday and everyone has things they have to do. Derek and I leave the dishes for now to go back to the living room and start to pick things up. “So I just thought you should know, your teacher tried to put the moves on me while you were at the Motel from hell.”

“She what?” It comes out incredulously, but it isn’t on Derek’s part, it’s on hers. I mean, he hasn’t flirted with her, but she keeps trying to get closer to him. It makes me think she has ulterior motives. 

“She tried to seduce me, but don’t worry, I put those thoughts to rest right away. I told her that I was seeing someone else. You would have thought that she would have heard the rumors floating around town about the two of us. It’s not like we keep our relationship a secret.”

All I can do is laugh now, because it’s true. We go on dates and walk around town holding hands. I mean we haven’t really had time to do that recently but it happened this summer. You would think that she would have heard someone gossiping about the sheriff’s son and the ex-convict. Okay so he isn’t a convict, but that is what some of the older ladies in town call Derek. “Well she is foolish if she thought that she could snag you anyway. You are far too grumpy to fall for just anyone.”

(Start)________________________________________________________________________________

“Oh really?” He grabs me in a fireman’s carry and takes me upstairs. I know where this is going to lead. “Far too grumpy huh.” He tosses me on the bed and yanks off the loose fitting pajama bottoms I was wearing leaving me in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt, neither of which are mine. His clothes are gone before I can blink and he is prowling up the bed like a wild animal. He has a determined look in his eyes, and it is such a turn on. I kind of love it when he goes all Alpha male on me. He straddles my hips and then sits down resting the crack of his ass against my fully hard cock. Not the way I thought this morning would go.

He is a bit calmer now as he lifts my shirt from my body. He does it slowly leaving a trail of kisses and nips to the skin he is exposing. Then when the shirt is off his lips find mine and it starts off sweet and unhurried, but then his teeth are biting at my bottom lip and his tongue is probing at the crease of my lips begging for entrance. Who am I to deny him what he wants. He dominates the kiss and I don’t really mind. His hands are holding mine above my head, our fingers entwined, and our bodies are moving against each other in exquisite bliss. But we don’t have much time till the others arrive and I am still hesitant to be too intimate with Derek when any of them are here. He knows this, so as much as we would both like to prolong our sexy times, this will have to be somewhat of a quickie. 

As if on cue with my thoughts he pulls away from me and slides down my body to pull off the offending boxers that are the only think keeping us from having full skin on skin contact. Then he is reaching over to the nightstand for the lube we always keep within reach and start to slick up his fingers. He doesn’t do this very often, but when he does, I always enjoy the show. He crawls back up my body to straddle my hips and then reaches his arm around to slip one of his fingers into himself. My hands go to his waist and clamp down hard as I try my best not to thrust up against him. He starts moving in himself looking me directly in the eyes, but then throws his head back when he has inserted a second finger. I can feel the low growl already starting to form in his chest and it just makes me want him all the more.

By the time he has three fingers in, he is thrusting down to meet them and then there is a warm slicked up hand on my throbbing cock, lubing up me and preparing me for him. Even when he is the one receiving, he likes to be on top. He likes to be the one in control. There have been a few times where he lets me dominate him, but we both prefer when I am the more submissive one. I can’t help that I get off on his Alpha posturing. 

Gently he guides me into him and every time this happens I am never prepared for it. He is always so tight and hot and wet. It takes everything in me not to forcefully thrust up into him, even though I know he wouldn’t mind if I did. Leisurely he slides down until I am fully seated inside him. And that is when the low growl builds into something louder, more of a pleasurable rumble. He leans over and kisses me roughly. Then he pulls back with my hands in his twining our fingers together. The first time he lifts up, I almost come all the way out of him, but then he slams back down and we are both groaning. He continues to set a brutal pace that leaves us both moaning into the air. It doesn’t take long before I am almost on the cusp of bliss. He knows without me saying that it won’t be long, so he takes our joined hands and wraps them around his throbbing, leaking dick to start pull and get him off as well. Shudders wreck through my whole body. “Derek I’m coming” I can’t help the thrusts that I am giving anymore, and it takes one final one for my hips to still and for Derek to stop his own motions for me to find my release. The moan I let out is loud, very loud, but I never stop moving my hand on Derek. In fact even through my own orgasm, I picked up the pace on him and it doesn’t take too much longer before he is shooting his own over my stomach. 

(End)_________________________________________________________________________________

After he is finished he collapses on top of me and is a bit boneless. I put my arms around him and let his weight rest on top of me. His come is drying on the two of us, but I know he likes it so I don’t say anything for us to get cleaned up. The others will be able to tell what we were up to anyway, and they are pretty good about not mentioning it. 

Derek gradually comes back to himself and gently slides off of me to lie next to me on the bed rather than on top of me. “Thank you.” It is mumbled into my neck and he has started to scent me. 

“For what?”

He is hesitant to say anything more but I know he needs to let this out, but he doesn’t move from my neck. I don’t think he could look me in the face right now. “Saving the pack, for saving me. If it wasn’t for you I would be lost. I wouldn’t know what to do, I might have lost more than Peter. Boyd would be gone, Erica would have left, Scott wouldn’t be part of my pack, and who knows if we would have ever been able to save my sister or Jackson. I just… There’s no way I can ever show how grateful I am to you for making all of that happen.”

“You never have to. I did it as much for you as I did it for myself. Derek look at me.” It takes him a while but he does look up at me. “I love you. I know that we don’t say it often, but I do. I will never love anyone else as much as I love you. Except maybe our kids. But that is a long time away, and I am sorry that you had to go through all the things you did. But never think that you have to thank me. I would do anything for you, Derek, just like I know you would do anything for me.”

He leans in and gives me a quiet kiss. “I know I don’t. But I don’t think you realize how much you really did save me. Before I met you, I was ready to be alone for the rest of my life. I didn’t want a pack because I didn’t think I deserved one, and I thought that if I did have one I would only hurt them. Then I came across this spastic teenager in the woods, and instantly I started to rethink things. You made me think that I had someone to protect, someone to care for again, even if I never let you know how I felt. But then you go and keep putting yourself next to me and won’t let me leave you alone. You argue and you fight until I don’t have a choice but to accept the things I had been denying myself for years. You not only saved me, you are helping me to live. So I will thank you as often as I feel is necessary because you deserve so much more, and I will always remind you of that. It’s the least I can do.”

There is so much I want to say back to him. To argue with him, but I don’t want to. So I pull him in for a kiss again and let us rest on the bed. We can hear when Boyd, Erica, and Cora return but we stay in bed with each other just lying there until lunch time. Hopefully we can get to a point after the Alphas are gone that we can get to a place where we don’t have to worry for our lives. I don’t think that we will ever be free of danger, but for a short period of time, I can hope we will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is Stiles's first large display of power. While he pulled from the pack it was all him in the healing. I know he has shown other smaller displays, but Boyd was about two seconds away from death, so I consider that pretty big. Also you see that he is weakened by healing Boyd, and that when he uses too much of his power that it burns at his own energy and can actually kill him if he goes to far. Hope you liked the sexytimes. It is the first time I have written bottom Derek, and it is the last. This is the last scene like that because the next few chapters are too full with drama. Also Cora reveals her past in the next chapter so there is a lot to look forward too! Hope this helped to make up for the sadness from the last couple of chapters. It is going to get pretty intense now!
> 
> And let me know what you thought! Love to hear your feedback!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here I am giving you one more chapter. The reasoning behind this is because with what I have left, you will now be getting the last chapter of this fic on New Years Day! Hope you guys enjoy it!

This is not how I was expecting my night to go. Not how I wanted it to go at all. I’ve been spending more nights at home with Dad and out of the pack house. Not because I want to but because since this whole Alpha pack thing happened I’ve been spending most of my time away from home. Dad hasn’t said anything, but I can tell that he is starting to miss me. So it is on one of those nights that I am cooped up in my room with virtually nothing to do but to look up spells that might help us, a few of which look pretty handy, when I get a call from Lydia. She needs me to meet her at the school so I tell her that I will be there shortly. I don’t know what is going on so I call Derek and tell him that He should probably come too and to bring some back up just in case.

When I get there, Derek, Isaac, and Allison are pulling in next to me. “So what’s up Lyds?”

“Well, you remember when I went out to get some pain meds from the pharmacy and ended up at the pool?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s what happened. I wasn’t coming here, but here I am, and I thought I should call you because last time I found a dead body, and I really didn’t want to find another one.” She looks pretty shaken and I don’t really blame her. I mean she only just found out that she is in fact a Banshee, and I think her new found status is freaking her out a little bit. 

“Okay, so you haven’t looked around at all yet?” She shakes her head no, and Allison moves to pull her into a hug for comfort. 

“Uh, guys, I think I found it.” Isaac was walking away from the four of us gradually and came to a stop about ten feet away looking towards the front of the school. Derek and I move to stand next to him and he points to the school sign. On top of it is a body that is obviously dead and sprawled out bleeding. I take one step closer and notice that it’s Tara. She was a deputy under my dad. Derek can feel sadness run through me and has his arms around me. 

“We have to call my dad.” I turn to face him and burry my face in his shoulder, unable to look at the woman who used to help me with my math homework. I can hear Isaac on the phone calling my dad, and really all I want to do is get out of there. 

Derek moves us so we are out of view of the sign. “You knew her?”

“Yeah,” I don’t lift my head, just let him surround me. “She’s my dad’s deputy, partner really. When I was younger, she used to help me with my homework when I had to wait for my dad at the station. She used to be a teacher, so she was pretty good. She always treated me like I was older. We even went over to her place for holidays sometimes.” Derek doesn’t say anything to me, but he tells the others that he is taking me home. Dad knew I was here, but there isn’t anything I can tell him. I think the others are going to leave too, and make it look like dad got an anonymous tip. That is probably for the best. 

Once we get back to my place Derek takes me upstairs, has me change into pajamas and crawls into bed with me and before I know it I am lulled into a restless sleep.

…

The next day is hell. I know what happened last night and from the way my dad described her wounds I know that she is the first in the fourth round of sacrifices. But I don’t know which one she is. She could be considered either a philosopher or a guardian. I do see dad at school talking to a few other law enforcement officials, and he tells me that they are doing their best to solve this the normal way. He’s got half the state and the FBI in on the investigation. But since they don’t have all the information, much like us, they won’t be able to figure anything out. The Darach never leaves any evidence behind. I mean how would he? He has magic on his side. That is some powerful stuff, let me tell you.

Things only get worse in English. I have come to loath the class because Miss Blake doesn’t seem to know how or when to back off. Even today she is talking about idioms, clichés, metaphors, and similes. And as she is doing it, she is making vague references to knowing about werewolves without actually saying anything. But she stares meaningfully at the pack and specifically at me while talking about it. I don’t know why I get more than the others though. Maybe it’s because I’m a human in the wolf pack, and she is jealous of that? Or maybe it’s because she’s really the Darach and she is jealous of my in that I have with the pack. I don’t know what to believe anymore really. My list of suspects hasn’t gotten too much bigger or smaller, it has pretty much stayed the same, but I am fairly certain that it isn’t Cora. I still don’t fully trust her, but I don’t think she is the one running around killing people. Not that she wouldn’t, just that she isn’t doing it now. 

Since my day isn’t going the best I thought it might be fun to switch it up a bit and try talking to the twins. I want to know what exactly is going on with them, and see if there is any room for them to switch sides, or at the very least, leave us alone. I’ve been talking with Derek about it, and I shared that their remorse from the aftermath of them helping to kill Boyd. He says that if they can try and atone for their misdeeds, and submit to him, then he would consider letting them into the pack. When we brought it up with the pack, there were a few grumbles, mostly from Erica, but they all agreed to the same. Well everyone except Cora who refused to share her opinion on the matter, but wasn’t afraid to throw off all kinds of aggression and anger afterwards. Another reason I have been staying at home. I know that they are not innocents and that fault lies with them, but on some deeper level I don’t think they feel they have a choice. Everyone in the pack knows how that feels to some degree and I think that is why everyone was accepting of letting them join should they choose to do it. But three Alphas in a pack won’t work.

Part of the research I have been doing recently is how to take an Alpha’s power away. I don’t want to do it viciously, and the spell I found is a willing sacrifice of power to drop down to the Beta status. If they did this their power would be spread to every pack member and make the pack stronger on the whole. It’s a win for everyone. I just have to make them see it that way.

I notice Isaac and Allison aren’t in school today, and I was hoping that they would be willing to help me with this plan to talk to them. But since they aren’t here, I turn to Lydia and Jackson who are more than willing to come with me. I think Lydia has be practicing her scream, so if need be we can call for help, or at least drive them off without causing too much trouble, and Jackson came as a little wolfy protection, not that he can stand alone against two Alphas alone. I also handed each of them one of my shield charms and will be more than ready to throw up my barrier on us if need be. It has been getting a lot stronger and I am confident that we could escape without any physical harm coming to any of us. 

So I text Ethan and ask him to get Aiden and meet us in the boy’s locker room at lunch time for a little chat. He doesn’t seem all the enthused but he agrees anyway. 

They are waiting for us when we get there and all three wolves are immediately tense. Lydia doesn’t seem to be too happy to be here, but I know she wouldn’t leave me hanging. I seem to be the only calm one, so I try to send out the calm vibes to everyone to bring the level of intensity down a bit. I don’t think that this conversation is going to go too smoothly so I want to keep it as low key as possible. Preventing any possible bloodshed would be good.

“Why did you want to talk to us? What are we doing here?” Aiden just jumps straight to the point. I can appreciate that.

“Well, I just want to understand what the two of you are even doing in Deucalion’s crazy power pack.”

“How can you even trust or believe what we have to say? I mean we did just help to kill one of your pack members.”

Jackson growls and starts to move forward a bit, but Lydia keeps a hand on him and that grounds him to stay and not start attacking them. “I could sense that you guys didn’t want to do it. I felt your remorse, your guilt. Did Duke tell you that I am an empath? I know he knew. When you guys were walking away from us, I could feel how terrible you felt. I think if that situation were to happen again, you wouldn’t do it.”

“You don’t know what we owe them. We weren’t like Kali and Ennis when we meet Deucalion. We weren’t Alpha’s.” The anger that rolls off Aiden is almost palpable. I can’t lessen it without touching him and I think if I were to try that, he might actually rip my head off. So yeah, that’s not gonna be a thing.

“What were you then?”

“Omegas.” Ethan, is a lot calmer than his brother, but not by much. Just by talking about this is going to make them on edge a little. I reach a hand out to Jackson to make sure he doesn’t let their anger affect him and let them continue.

“In actual wolf packs, Omegas are the scapegoat. The last to eat, the one who has to take the abuse from the rest of the pack.” We don’t have any in our pack. I don’t understand how a pack that should be like family would have that kind of position. But then I guess not every pack is run the same way.

“So you two were like the bitches of the pack?” Lydia and I both hit Jackson pretty hard and he just shrugs like ‘what? It’s what you all were thinking’.

“Something like that.” Ethan says it with distain and touch of bitterness. The twins keep switching back and forth in their telling, that you can actually see how close they are to each other.

“What happened?” I am trying to be understanding here, but they aren’t making it too easy.

“They were killers. I mean people talk about us like we are monsters.”

“They were the ones who gave us the reputation.” Aiden continues Ethan’s though.

“And our Alpha was the worst of them.” Ethan finishes.

“Why didn’t you guys just fight back? Form your Voltron wolf. You know? Kick everyone’s asses?” Jackson would make an eighties cartoon reference. Although I have to commend him on it, it was a pretty good one. 

Aiden gets pretty angry and yells out. “We couldn’t!”

And Ethan places a hand on his brother’s shoulder trying to calm him down a bit. “We didn’t know how to control it back then.”

“Deucalion taught you.” It isn’t a question. I am pretty sure of the answer.

Aiden almost has an evil glint in his eye when he responds. “And then we fought. We took down the whole pack, one by one. And by the time we got to our Alpha, he was begging for his life. And we tore. Him. Apart.” A slight hint of fangs pop out of his mouth and his eye are verging on glowing their crimson red.

None of us is given any time to respond because at the moment Cora leaps out of nowhere and attacks Aiden. He is taken by surprise so he gets knocked to the floor at first, but then he hits her back and she takes it hard to the head. Not wanting any more damage to be done I throw out my barrier and have in encompass the four of us. Ethan grabs onto Aiden to restrain him. “Kali gave Derek until the next full moon and that means you can’t touch any of them.” Aiden tries to argue, but back down. Ethan starts to pull his brother away from us and out the door leaving with an apologetic look. I can tell that he at least doesn’t want to stay with Deucalion and his pack, but he feels like he is backed into a corner and won’t leave his brother. I get it, but I wish that they would both see sense. 

Cora looks pretty bad on the floor so I go over to her and chant a few words of healing and she starts to come round. As soon as her eyes pop open she gets up and pushes away from me steading herself at the sink and starts to clean the blood off her head. “You okay?” Stupid question I know, but what else can you really say in a situation like this?

“She doesn’t look okay.” Lydia answers first, and the way she says it implies that she looks kind of crazy, and that she should be let out of the house on her own. I get where Lydia is coming from, but that is so not helping. And the look I give her in return expresses as much.

“I’ll be fine.” As she steps away from the sink she sways a bit on her feet and Jackson and I both reach out to steady her, but she knocks our hands away and roots herself to one spot keeping her balance. “I said, I’ll be fine.”

“Do you realize how suicidally crazy that was? Not to mention the fact that we were talking to them, trying to get them to come around, and switch sides. What were you thinking going after them?”

“I did it for Boyd!” She almost yells it out. Like how could we not know why she did it.

“But he’s alive?”

“He almost wasn’t. And no one is doing anything about it.”

“We’re trying to.”

“And your failing. You’re just a bunch of stupid teenagers running around, thinking that you can stop people from getting killed, but all you do is show up too late. All you really do is find the bodies.” She turns around and walks out. I can’t let her leave though, she is wounded, and it was done by an Alpha so it will take longer to heal, even if she lets me help her. 

“Well, she’s definitely a Hale.” I let out a small sigh. “I’ll make sure she gets home.” I have to jog to catch up with her, and when I do fall into step with her she doesn’t say anything. “Come with me, I’ll give you a ride home.” She looks at me almost with disgust. “I am pretty sure you ran here, and you are in no condition to run back right now, so just let me give you a ride. If not for me, then for Derek.” She looks a bit shamed at that, and silently agrees. 

We get in the jeep and start towards the Hale house, but then I get a call from Allison on the way. She was snooping around her dad’s stuff again and they looked at his desk and found a Celtic fivefold knot. In each of the five circles the knot creates was the name of the kinds of sacrifices that have been or are going to be made. He father obviously knows something that he isn’t saying and that is worrying. Cora is looking at me with a blank look, but I can feel the anxiety that is under the surface. And that is when I think, this is enough. I am going to get her to tell me where she has been and what she was up to before being captured by the Alpha pack. I can’t let it rest any longer.

I start to make the turns to my house instead of the Hale house and Cora notices just a little too late. “Why are we here? I thought you were taking me home.”

“I did, just not the home you were thinking. We need to talk, and I can’t let this go any longer no matter how painful it is for either of us, or how much you don’t want to. Too much shit is brewing around here, and I can’t keep worrying that you might not really be on our side. I need to know how you survived the fire and where you have been since then. I’m sorry, but I can’t let Derek get hurt again. Especially by someone who is his own family. He’s lost enough of that, I won’t let him lose any more if I can help it.”

She looks mad at first, but then she relaxes into a tense calmness and actually opens the jeep door to head inside. “I’m surprised you lasted this long. Derek told me that you would have done this ages ago.”

I get out too and walk with her to the front door. “I hadn’t yet, only because I know how much family means to Derek. He wants to badly to believe that you are really here for no other reason but to be a part of our pack, that he won’t ask you what happened to you. Unfortunately it’s my job to be cynical and not let anything slip past our pack’s defenses. Especially since I have worked so hard to raise them in the first place. I know that you haven’t told Derek yet, because he would have told me if no one else.”

We move to sit in the living room and I grab us some sodas from the kitchen. I don’t know how long this will take, but I don’t want any interruptions. “And as the Mate of the Alpha, it is good that you are wary of me. I am actually impressed with what you have done to ensure the pack’s protection. But that is about where my feelings end for you. I still stand with what I said earlier. I can’t believe that he turned a bunch of teenagers.”

“Actually I think it makes perfect sense.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. I mean first off Scott and Jackson weren’t turned by him.”

“Yeah I know, crazy Peter did that.”

Rolling my eyes I bite down the pang of sadness that pops up at the casual mention of his name. I can feel Cora do the same. “Yes, He did. Isaac, Erica, and Boyd were the ones he turned. And each of them have come out better for it. No, things haven’t been perfect or always run smoothly, but most of that wasn’t Derek’s fault. First off, he was never trained to be the Alpha. He couldn’t even take the power from Peter when the time came. Chris Argent has to make the final blow. But it was that merit to his personality, to his morals, to him, that allowed him to become a True Alpha. He didn’t go searching for the power, the power came to him. What he did with it after that was save three teenagers who had no friends and who were all looking for their own self-destruction in their own ways. He saved them, and gave them something to be a part of. Jackson’s turning was unfortunate. He had some deeper issues that made the Kanima come out rather than the wolf, but with Derek’s help we were able to save him, and so after, Jackson decided to join the pack. He felt and in fact still feels that he owes Derek his life. Scott took a lot more convincing, and not from any lack of trying on my, Allison’s, or even Derek’s part. He wouldn’t listen to reason, and outright betrayed the pack in his ignorant thought to save everyone. But the pack forgave him. Derek forgave him, and now they are all here.”

“What about you humans? I don’t really see what you are doing here.”

“Really? I know for a fact that your pack had a few humans amongst its members.”

“That’s different. They were family.”

I let her have one of my unbelieving looks and pierce her down with a glare, “And so are we. First of we have Allison. She is the daughter of a hunter. She went against her whole family to help not only defeat Peter at the height of his crazy, but also to save Derek’s life from her own aunt. Someone she considered more of a sister. She was the only one helping me after Scott was turned. Derek wouldn’t rely on me, and Scott started shutting me out, so I had to work alone for most of it. She helped me even while putting her own life at risk. She is as much part of this pack as any of the others.”

“Lydia, she was bitten by Peter but not changed, she was surrounded by the madness that was going on without actually knowing what was happening. Then Peter started to use her to come back from death. When she was filled in on everything, she helped us translate the Bestiary so we would be able to look up any foe that would be coming our way. She saved Jackson from being the Kanima, and now we figured out she is a Banshee. She has helped ‘find the bodies’ as you say that’s all we do, when no one else would even be looking. And I know that her power or her usefulness to the pack will ever diminish. Even without her newfound abilities she is one of the smartest people I have the privilege to know.”

“Danny is part of this pack, because like Lydia, all the crazy was going on around him, and he while a bit oblivious, was not blind. He has helped us with his computer skills, and even now, has started dating one of the twins under the guise of having no clue what is going on so that we might gain some insight as to what the Alphas have planned. That relationship, which is actually pretty serious for the both of them, might actually be the thing that can help to turn the twins away from the Alpha pack, and on to our side. The more allies against them the better.”

“And if you want to talk about me, go ahead. Not only am I the Alpha’s Mate, I am the Emissary to the pack, and one with the Gift. I have enough power to defend myself and the pack when we are together, and even sometimes when we are apart. I made sure there was a pack for you to come back to, so if you ever want to rag on us humans again, well maybe you should think twice. Any of the four of us, could take on a Beta no problem, and come out the victor. Just ask the rest of the pack.”

She doesn’t say anything for almost ten minutes and I am trying to calm myself from the anger that was building through my rant, that I can’t really speak. Just when I am about to lose my cool again, she speaks up. “I’m sorry.” She even bares her neck to me in a real show of submission. “I shouldn’t have questioned you. Technically you are as much my Alpha as Derek is, and I am ashamed that I thought otherwise.” I don’t say anything more out of shock at her words than anything else, and I remain silent hoping that she will continue and actually tell me what I want to know.

“I haven’t talked about where I’ve been since the fire because it’s difficult for me to talk about. I was only eleven when the fire happened. I was out in the woods on a hike and when I came back all I smelled was smoke. Our parents taught us, that if there was ever danger to find one of our families hiding spots and stay there until the danger had passed. So that’s what I did. By the time I came out and heard that Derek and Laura were still alive, they had already left, and I had no idea how to find them. So I ran. I knew that whoever set fire to the house was still out there, so I ran. I ran for days. I didn’t even know where I was, I just kept running. Eventually I ran into the territory of another pack, they were small, just an Alpha and two Betas. There were a family. Father, mother, and daughter. When I told them what happened, they took me in. I didn’t want to stay, but I had nowhere else to go. When I was fifteen, I left them. They were kind, but the Hunters in the area were getting nosey, and I didn’t want this family to get caught. So I lead them away and started running again. I never really stopped after that. Omega life is hard. I was homeless, I lived on small game and whatever I could manage to steal, never staying in one place for more than a few days. I managed to see most of the country that way. Even parts of Canada and Mexico.”

“But then about four or five months ago I heard that the Hale pack was resurfacing, and gaining in strength. It was from a few Hunters and they said that the Argents had even backed off of them, and were leaving them in peace so long as they didn’t hurt anyone. I don’t know if you understand, but for a werewolf to hear that a pack got the Argents, the most renowned family of Hunters to back off, well that is pretty impressive. So I started making my way back to see for myself. I was in Nevada or Oregon, I’m not really sure, when the Alpha pack found me. Deucalion recognized me for who I was, and I couldn’t escape them. They brought me here and placed me in that damn vault. Then Boyd was thrown in a few days later. He started to tell me about his pack. And Derek, and all of you, and I thought, ‘hey, this is it. I’m home. Derek will find me.’ But we waited… for two months. Two months we were locked up like animals. We started to lose hope. Boyd really never did. He always said where there’s a Stiles there’s a way. At first I thought it was funny, then it pissed me off, now I can see what he meant. I know you can’t tell if I’m lying, but I’m not. That is the truth. Had the Alpha’s not caught me, I would have come to you myself, and we would have been able to meet under different circumstances. I know I haven’t been fitting into the pack or even trying, but I think there is a part of me that is still waiting for Deucalion to follow through on his threats, to make Derek kill us all, and I didn’t want to risk losing a pack for the third time.”

After she’s done speaking I get up and walk across the room to her and pull her into a Stilinski family hug. It takes her a second, but she returns it. Typical Hale, hide behind a wall of anger and gruffness to put off dealing with their real emotions. “I understand why you’ve been acting the way you have been. Derek tried to pull that bull shit too at the beginning. And as you can see I put a stop to that right away. You are pack, Cora. I can tell when someone is lying, it isn’t by your heartbeat, more of an intuition, but I know what you said is the truth. So now that I know I can trust you, things will get better for us all around here. Do you mind if I tell Derek what you’ve told me, I mean I am probably going to anyway, but...” Her arms fall from my back and I can feel her slouch into a little too much to be quite right. “Cora?” I pull back and I see that she is unconscious. Not good! I can’t figure out what is wrong so I call an ambulance to get her to the hospital. If they can figure it out, maybe I can heal her. Once they get there, I load in the back with her, and call Derek telling him what is going on. He says that he’ll meet us at the hospital. 

That is when I look at my phone for the first time since I started talking with Cora. I see a message from Allison saying that her and Isaac tried tracking where the next sacrifice was going to happen, and they got there too late. Mr. Westover was the second. He taught at Beacon Hills High, so this must be philosophers. Two down and one more to go. The third is going to happen tonight at the recital. Most of the school will be there, teachers too. Miss Blake thought to honor all the dead or missing people of the town, but now it just looks like opportunity to strike while everyone’s eyes are somewhere else. 

Once we get to the hospital, they have managed to get her breathing again, and she is stable, but starting to get feverish. The paramedics have no idea what it is. Derek, Erica, and Boyd get there about five minutes after us, and about twenty after that we are shown to Cora’s room. They have her on an IV and are monitoring her vitals, but the doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong. After they leave the room, I run my own scan over her. There is something supernatural about it, but it isn’t the cause. I don’t know what it is either. Hopefully with a little time we will be able to figure it out. 

I tell Derek what Cora and I talked about, and that she told me what happened to her. I also say that I think she will be more open to the pack now. She was testing me, just as much as we were testing her. His hands are holding Cora’s, but his eyes say thank you. I know he was worried about the outcome of the inevitable chat, but now his fears can come to rest. At least on that aspect.

The rest of the pack is at the school and are going to try and prevent the next sacrifice from happening. “Stiles, you should go.”

“Why? I want to be here for you, and for Cora.”

“I know, and I love you for that, but you will do more use at the school. The Darach is still out there, and if you can keep him from killing any more people, then that is where you should be.”

“But-“

He gets up and walks over to me putting a finger over my mouth. “Stiles.” he says my name with almost reverence and love, and how can I not do what he asks of me? At the start of our relationship I thought I would be able to get him to do anything I want. Now I am finding it more of the opposite. And all it takes is for him to say my name. I am so whipped.

“Fine, just… just be careful, and if they figure anything out, let me know right away. They might not be able to heal her, but I probably can.” He nods, and I head out. Erica already text Jackson for me and he is waiting at the entrance when I get outside. We don’t really talk as we make our way to the school, but I do let him know that Cora is good, and we as a pack can trust her, and to let the others know when he sees them.

As we make out way into the auditorium I see the twins seated in the audience, Allison and Isaac with her father off to one side, and Jackson joined Scott on the other. Things seem to be fine for a minute, but then I realize that Lydia isn’t here, and then I feel her panic. Jackson must feel it too, because before I know it, he and Scott are taking off, and I am quick on their heels. Lydia is in danger. I don’t know why her though, she isn’t really a philosopher. As we are running around the school trying to find her a scream comes from out of nowhere, and Jackson and I both know that’s her. One of the powers she gains from her Banshee ancestry. Scott and Jackson race ahead of me being a bit faster, and I can hear fighting going on as I reach the door. But then Miss Blake is there and she slams the teacher’s desk against the door closing it and locking me out. I can see my dad in the room with his gun drawn, Scott and Jackson lay sprawled from where Jennifer must have pushed them. I knew she was the one. I didn’t want to be right, but as usual, I am. I push against the door trying to open it but it won’t budge. So I step back and focus my power to push the door open and by the time I get into the room there is a shattering of glass and Jennifer and my dad are nowhere to be seen.

The window is broken and my dad’s badge lies on the floor crumpled like it was made of paper. She took my dad. She is the Darach and she took my father. There are high emotions of panic and fear coming from somewhere in the school, and the pack is all over the place. But I feel numb. She took him. The only blood family I have left. My only parent. My dad. I am aware of the things going on around me. Jackson is with Lydia making sure she’s okay, and Scott is standing next to me asking me questions. But I can’t really find the will to answer any of them. Scott starts to pull me towards the door, and outside to the parking lot to where my Jeep somehow managed to end up. He calls Derek and says that we need to meet up at the loft. He says my name a few times, but I don’t really hear the rest. Then I see him texting someone and he says something about letting Allison and Isaac know what’s up. 

At the loft, he has to practically carry me up the stairs. My feet won’t move of their own free will. That is until we get through the door and Derek is there. Then I am running toward him and falling into his embrace. “My Dad, she took my dad.” He just lets me cry into his chest while Scott tells him what happened, and that we know it’s Jennifer. 

Now that I know she is the Darach, now that the pack knows, she stopped hiding her power from us. I can feel her. I can feel her presence like an inky blot on white paper. I can feel her, and she is coming. She is coming to Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I changed up the talk with Ethan to make it both of the twins, plus I also brought Jackson and Lydia rather than Scott. It has somewhat to do with trust, but also Jackson is one of the stronger wolves. His first choices of Allison and Isaac were taken away so he took the next strongest in the pack. Even though he has the least experience as a wolf, he gained control the fastest. He also pushes himself harder than the others to maintain that control and in a way to prove to Derek that he is a good Beta. Jackson has major issues, and I am not making him perfect by any means. But I really like the redemption quality that he possess. 
> 
> I hope you guys like my story for Cora. I thought it should be something believable, and there had to be a reason she doesn't like the others. A loss of hope and fear of losing the pack again is justifiable, at least to my reasoning. Yeah she could have tried, but again it's that fear of letting others in and having something to lose that held her back. It is never really explained how Cora becomes poisoned so I think it would have happened before she attacked Aiden. She arrives at the school and Jennifer can't resist the opportunity to make Derek need her. I do like Cora's character, I only wish I had the means to fully delve into her character some more like I have with the others. Even though it is only small snippets you see there is still some character evolution with them all. With Cora i may have to wait until I reach the one-shot stories to show more of her. But also that will be more OC than actual character because we aren't given a very big glimpse of who she is as a person.
> 
> So let me know what you guys want to see for those one-shots because while I have a few ideas, I really don't know what you all want to see that I haven't written.
> 
> As always, thanks for the love and Please let me know what you think! I love to hear the feedback from you guys. I keep getting praise, but are there any haters out there? Maybe even a small thing you don't like. I am more than willing to explain why I do things the way I do. All you gotta do is ask. ^_^


	10. Chapter 10

Before Jennifer arrives as the loft a massive storm starts to brew and starts causing all kinds of damage all over town. Scott gets a text from the others saying that the power is going out all over the place. It has massive amounts of magical energy and I can tell that it was a normal storm, but she has supercharged it. Thanks to Derek I am able to compose myself a bit and Scott and I go to move to the kitchen so she won’t know we are there right away. I know she is going to spew some bullshit to Derek, but it won’t work. Derek also moves to sit in the shadows, just in case this is an attack and not a plea for help. 

The door opens and we can hear her walk in. “Derek? Derek where are you?”

He walks out from the shadows cautiously. “Right here.”

“Thank God.” I can tell just from the anger rolling off of him, that she tried to hug him. She should know by now that he isn’t warming to her advances. He even told her that he has someone already, but that doesn’t stop the brazenness she puts out. “Something happened at the recital, and the school. Okay, I need to tell you before you hear it, before you hear from any of them.” Scott starts to move forward growl starting low in his chest, and I have to hold him back. I have to hold myself back too. She took my dad, and is acting all innocent. Who the in the hell does she think she is?

“From who?” The anger from Derek is only building. Derek considers my father his family too. As he should, I mean we are pretty much married after all. Dad even calls him son now. She has no idea what she has done to herself.

“Scott, Stiles. They’re gonna tell you things. Things you can’t believe. You have to trust me, okay? You trust me.”

“What is it?” His patience is running short now. I am surprised he has lasted this long.

“Promise you’ll listen to me.”

“I promise.” Scott and I are peaking out, and she is kissing him. Scott has to hold me back, or I would be out there throwing a punch, I don’t even care what she is. No one touches my Mate! But then something slowly dawns on her and she pulls back. “They’re already here, aren’t they?” So the jig is up. We walk out and Scott goes to take Derek’s place, while Derek moves to stand next to me. They did it without even talking. Just goes to prove how far Scott has come, being able to read his Alpha without being told what to do. “So… they told you it was me? That I’m the one taking people?”

“We told him you’re the one killing people.” Scott half snarls it as he walks past her. And Derek’s hand in mine is the only thing keeping me together again. I want to lash out at her for touching Derek, but I also want to destroy her for taking my father, and for everything else she has done. For everyone else she has killed.

“Oh, that’s right.” She is chuckling. Really, with two werewolves, she thinks that she can tell lies and get away with it. Not even I can do that. Not without a spell at least. And I know she wasn’t thinking that far ahead. “Committing human sacrifices? What, cutting their throats? Yeah, I probably do it on my lunch hour. That way I can get back to teaching high school English the rest of the day. That makes perfect sense.” Actually it does. I am pretty sure at least one of the deaths happened about that time. More than one have happened while school was in session, so that is probably what she did.

I can’t hold back the question any longer. I need to know. “Where’s my dad?” Even though I don’t want to cry in front of this bitch a few tears do fall from my eyes. Derek squeezes my hand in silent reassurance, but nothing will be able to reassure me until he is back, safe and alive.

“How should I know? Derek, tell me you don’t believe this?” This incredulous innocent act is getting really irritating. 

With barely constrained anger he asks, “Do you know what happened to Stiles father?” My hand squeezes his back just as hard trying to keep each other calm in this is not an easy feat.

“No.”

“Ask her why she almost killed Lydia.”

She looks at Scott like he’s crazy, “Lydia Martin? I don’t know anything about that.”

“What do you know?” His anger and temper are almost overpowering. If she doesn’t start talking soon, I might not be able to hold him back.

“I know that these boys, for whatever misguided reason, are filling you head with an absurd story. And one they can’t prove by the way.”

“What if we could?” I fumble in my pocket for the jar I have been keeping there for quite some time, just for this occasion. When I pull it out, I see a small glimmer of recognition in her eyes, and a bit of fear. She knows she is about to be found out, and there is nothing she can do to stop it.

“What is that?”

“I think you know. It is both a poison and a cure, which means that you can use it… and it can be used against you.” And that is when it clicks. Cora. She has mistletoe poisoning. Dangerous even for a wolf.

“Mistletoe?” She says it like she can’t believe it. But she better. I don’t let her get another second to react as I uncap the lid and toss its contents over her. My telekinesis helps to spread it out and make sure that she is completely covered in it so that it does its job. She starts shifting forms from that scarred thing she really is, to the form she has taken now to deceive us all. After the mistletoe falls, and she is back to being Jennifer, she tries to make a break for it. Like that’s gonna happen, really? Derek grabs her by the throat and keeps her with us.

“Derek, wait, you need me.”

“Why?”

“I’m the only person who can save your sister. Call Erica and Boyd. Call them.”

I call them trying to maintain my own sanity and this gives me something to do. Erica picks up on the second ring. “How is she?”

“It’s not good. She’s in and out of consciousness. And she’s vomiting black blood with something else.”

“Mistletoe.”

“How did you know?”

“Just do. Stay with her.” That is all that needs to be said, and I know Derek and Scott were listening to our conversation, so I hang up. Derek’s anger gets the best of him, and he starts to lift her off the ground.

“Derek, Derek what are you doing?” Scott sounds frantic. 

Even dangling for her life, she still pulls out a cocky attitude. If I didn’t want to hurt her so bad I would be slightly impressed. “Her life is in my hands.”

“Derek.” He looks me in the eyes, and I convey that she is wrong. I can save Cora. But we need her to find my dad. Since he was taken I can’t feel him through the pack bond. He just isn’t there. I want to kill her, but we need her. 

“Stilinski, you’ll never find him.” They always underestimate me. And it always hurts them in the end. But Derek does drop her. “That’s right. You need me. All of you.” I let her feed her own ego. I feel like she is connected to the Alphas in some way, and if that’s true, they are meant for each other. She and Deucalion both have egos the size of Texas. Maybe bigger. But for now, we are going to let her think that she holds all the cards. Derek drags her downstairs and throws her into the front seat of his SUV, then sends me some love and sorrow through the bond, but I can tell that he wants us to drive separately. He is trying to protect me, as usual. So Scott and I get in my jeep and stay right on them the whole way to the hospital, but something isn’t sitting right with me. And Scott can tell.

“What’s up? Something wrong?” Of course there is, but I know what he means.

“Something feels off about this. She still had this look like it didn’t matter. You know, like it was all still going according to plan. You saw it too didn’t you?” He doesn’t say anything but if the feelings he is putting out right now mean anything, he is thinking along the same lines I am.

Once we get to the hospital, we can see that most of it is evacuated. Scott’s mom called on the way to say that they were having power outages and that they were transferring everyone to different hospitals in the area. I grab my inscribed lacrosse stick and the bag of vials I keep in the jeep before heading in. I don’t know what the hell is going to happen here, but with Jennifer with us, it won’t be good. 

As we make our way through the main hallways, Ms. M. sees us and stops us. “Mom, you should leave. It’s not going to be safe here.”

She looks a bit scared, “The building is supposed to be clear in thirty minutes. There are two ambulances that are coming back. One is ten minutes out, and the other is twenty. Cora should be on one of them. The pickup is in the basement garage.” Scott nods and we make head to the elevator to get up to the floor Cora is on. As we get into the elevator I can feel that Erica and Boyd are hurt, Derek does too, and that only tightens the grip he has on Jennifer’s arm. Since he got out of the SUV he hasn’t let her go. 

“You don’t have to keep me on a leash Derek. I’m going to help.” I want to call bullshit so hard right then. But I keep all thoughts internal. Including the one about a muzzle. She turns to look at Scott and then over to look at me and she just sighs.

We get out of the elevator and it seems like the whole rest of the floor is clear. Cora’s room is empty and a trail of black blood leads out of it and down the hallway. Just as we see the trail lead off behind a set of doors, Erica and Boyd come flying through, sliding on the floor until they are right at our feet. The twins are in their merged form and look ready for a fight. Scott helps Boyd up and the two of them and Derek charge Mega wolf. I help Erica up and sneak past them to get to Cora who is laid out on the floor. It is only as I get to her that I realize we just left Jennifer unattended. She is running back down the hallway and I only just see her face as it disappears behind the doors of the elevator. Damn bitch escaped us. But there is no time for that right now. I toss up shields on the three wolves fighting and Erica and I start to move Cora away from the brawl. 

We get down a flight of stairs and into an exam room when the others catch up with us. But the twins are right on their tail. Maybe I can actually get through to them? Who knows, why not try my crazy plan now? Boyd comes over and takes Cora from me and Erica, and I move to stand in front of the twins as they make their way into the room. Derek almost pulls me back, but I hold my ground. “Look guys, this isn’t your only option. I know that your pack was one of the douchey ones but not every pack is like that. We’re not like that. We are a family. There are no Omegas in our pack, and as far as I’m concerned there never will be. Derek and I have talked, even the rest of the pack agrees, you could join us. You could be a part of a real pack again.” They go to move forward and Derek puts himself between us and starts to talk to them.

“You can join us. I give you my word, Stiles found a way for you to be a part of our pack. The choice rests with you though.” This halts them in their tracks and gives us time to escape. As we leave I pull out a vial from my bag that is a stinkbomb of sorts and smash it on the ground. That should confuse them of our scent at least until we can figure out what we are going to do.

We get to another exam room, and I start to mentally freak out about Jennifer escaping us. Then I look up to Derek and over at Cora. But I need to tell him what I can do. That no matter what happens, Cora will be okay. “I can heal her. Now that I know what is wrong, I can heal the poisoning. It will take longer than we have right now, but I can do it. We don’t need her for that. Just to find my dad.”

Derek nods and we try to start making a plan to get out of this God forsaken hospital when the bitch of all people comes into the room. Up to this point that bitch would have been Kali. But know it’s Jennifer. Who am I kidding, in my head it’s always been Jennifer. “Now if you’re ready, I can heal Cora and tell you where Sheriff Stilinski is, but there is a pack of Alphas in this hospital who want me dead. So I’ll help you… but only when I’m out of here and safe. Only then.”

Derek looks to me and I nod. There is no other way for us to find my father. Erica and Boyd start to advance on her, but Derek and Scott keep them back. “But she was trying to get out.” Erica snarls.

“I was running for my life.”

“If you want to prove you’re one of the good guys then heal her now.” If I don’t have to expend that energy then it’s better that I don’t. Not that I trust this bitch one bit.

“Not until I’m safe.”

“Yeah, how about a different method of persuasion. I say we torture the bitch.” Erica is still talking with her fangs descended. 

“Works for me.” Boyd is not as calm as he usually is. But if what Cora said was true, they had two months to get to know one another. They are actually probably closer than I originally thought.

That is when Ms. M. comes on the speaker system. “Mr. Deucalion. Sorry, just Deucalion wants you to bring Miss Blake to the front entrance. If you do this then the rest of you can go in peace.” That is all she says and the speaker goes out. Jennifer gets a bit jumpy at this. She actually thinks that we are just going to hand her over to a dude who calls himself the ‘Destroyer of Worlds’? Yeah right. So we say we’ll protect her, and she says that Deucalion won’t kill Mellissa until he has Derek.

We make a plan. It’s not a plan I am very fond of, but it’s a plan none the less. Erica, Boyd, and Scott are going to stay and distract the twins while Derek, Jennifer and I get Cora down the ambulance and out of the hospital. This plan works really well for about five minutes. We get down to the basement garage, and get Cora into the ambulance, but then we realize the paramedics aren’t there. Derek hears something, and goes around the side to check it out. Turns out it’s Kali. She kills the paramedics, and has the keys. Guess we aren’t getting out of here anytime soon. Derek takes Jennifer and goes to run back into the building closing the doors of the ambulance as he moves past, blocking us from view and scent. 

Since I have no idea how long this is going to take I figure I might as well start to heal Cora. It might drain me, but if nothing else, I can pull from some of the reserves I have been saving up. It takes me a minute to reach out and find the source of the problem, but now that I know what I am looking for it is not too hard to find. Latching onto it and slowly drawing it from her body is a process that will take quite a bit of time, so of course I start to ramble. “You know, I used to always be the one with the plan. I mean I still am, obviously, but they used to run a lot smoother than this. I always have a plan b, even a plan c sometimes. I don’t know when things got so messed up, that my plans stopped working. I mean we have faced our fair share of challenges and always come out on top, but will we always? Maybe you’re right, and all we do is just find the bodies. I just don’t want to find my father’s body. “ 

She makes a gasping noise and then the poison is slowly being pulled from her throat in a cloud of vapor. Some color comes back to her skin, and her breathing is even and deep now. I know she will be alright. “You know you are a lot easier to talk to when you’re unconscious.” There is a noise outside, and the twins pass by me. I lean back to try and stay out of their line of sight, but I think I’m okay. They are fighting over something. 

Literally a minute later the doors to the ambulance are thrown open and Scott and Boyd are holding up Erica, who is almost unconscious, between them. They leave her with me to go back for Derek and Jennifer and Scott’s mom. Apparently Derek and Jennifer got trapped in an elevator when the power was knocked out. I tell them that Kali has the keys to the ambulance and that I just saw the twins so be careful. 

I send Derek a text that I healed Cora and that she will be awake in a few hours. He doesn’t respond, but the warm love I get through the bond is all I need. Then I start to get to work on healing Erica. They are Alpha wounds so they will take a bit longer to heal, but I can help jumpstart the process. She stays somewhat zoned out though, her body trying to do what it needs to get her back to full strength. 

Scott texts me about five minutes later saying that Allison, Isaac, and Chris are here, and that they have a plan. Allison is going to switch clothes with Jennifer and lure the Alphas out of the building. Chris is going to be waiting outside, and they are going to throw the wolves off by shooting their quicksilver at them to scatter them and make them unable to do much but run. They do this so the power can be turned back on, so that the elevator can move again and un-trap Derek and Jennifer. Isaac is going to drive down with Derek’s SUV to pick everyone else up and get them out of there back to the house, where everyone will be meeting up after all is said and done. 

As the plan starts into action Isaac books it down the narrow tunnel and we get Cora and Erica out of the back of the ambulance and into the SUV, I notice a clipboard on hanging up in the cabin. At the bottom is has a line that says Parent or Guardian, the last sacrifice. I mean I knew that my dad was taken, but I never really connected that he was going to be a sacrifice. I thought it might just have been a way for her to get us to work with her. Then I think, there is another guardian in the building at the moment. Scott’s mom. As soon as I think the thought, I feel Derek get knocked really hard on the head, and I know that he is lying in the elevator unconscious. A moment after that Mellissa disappears from my radar. Just like my dad did. I can’t feel either of them. She is going to be the second Sacrifice. I need to get to Derek. He is unconscious, and it is highly probable that the cops are on their way. I can hear the sirens already. Isaac tries to ask why I am running back into the hospital, but I just tell him to go. He doesn’t question me again, but looks like he would rather follow me. It takes me all of two minutes to charge to where Derek is lying unconscious on the elevator floor. I am going to make the bitch hurt, I swear it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot changed here, but the conversation with Jennifer at the beginning goes a bit differently, Stiles tells the twins that they can join the pack, and he heals Cora. He isn't so drawn out of energy when he does it because he has the pack to draw on for strength. Only two chapters and the epilogue to go! In the home stretch!
> 
> Please let me know what you think!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone! Even though it's Christmas I am still updating! Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

As soon as I see Derek’s prone body I rush over to him. I have to get him conscious again. I start to shake him, but it isn’t having any affect. Panic starts to rise in my chest, but I squash it down. Now is not the time or the place to be having a panic attack. Not that there really ever is a time or a place for one in the first place. Not knowing what else to do, I reach out and tug on the bond, at first it doesn’t do anything, but the stronger I pull, the more it seems to get to him. Finally I lay on hand over his heart and the other on the side of his face and make one more pull, and his eyes snap open. “Where is she?” He sits up and then almost falls back down, so I catch him and help him regain his balance.

“Jennifer? Gone, with Scott’s mom.”

“She took her?”

“Yeah. We gotta get you out of here. The police are coming right now, and we gotta get you the hell out of here.”

“What about Cora?”

“She’s healing and should be awake in a few hours. Isaac got her and the other wolves out so it’s just you and me. I’m gonna stay to hold off the cops. You have to get to the house with the others. I’ll try to be there soon.”

“Stiles-“

“Derek, you need to be with them right now, you need to heal yourself. I’m fine.”

“No you’re not. Healing her took a lot of your strength. You need to recharge just as much as I do.”

“Maybe, but someone needs to be here to see if the cops know anything more and that someone can’t be you. I don’t want them trying to connect you to any of this. And Cora will be awake soon, so you need to be there with her. She will probably be willing to tell the pack what happened to her and you should be there to hear it. I’ll be fine. I’ll sit down and relax, and get out to the house as soon as I can. I promise.” He still looks like he isn’t going to go, but once I get him outside and the fresh air hits him, I can tell that he will go. “I love you. See you soon.” He shifts to his full wolf and disappears into the tree line.

I go back to the entry hall and wait out whatever it is that is coming. I know the cops will have heard something, and that is better than nothing. But when I look up to see who is coming through the doors, I am not all that happy about it. It’s Scott’s dad. “Oh, just perfect.” The d-bag that left him and his mom for no apparent reason. Just decided that family wasn’t that important to him anymore. Scott lived with him for a while after that, but that didn’t last long. His dad was never around, so he moved back home. He and I were pretty young then, about eleven or so, but I remember everything this guy put Scott through. The fact that him and my dad never got along either doesn’t really help anything. He always had it out for my dad when mom died. Thought he drank too much. Actually tried to tell dad to go to an AA meeting. And even at the worst of the drinking, he was never that bad. When he makes his way over to me, I know this is going to be fun.

“A Stilinski at the center of this whole mess, what a shocker. Think you can answer some questions without the usual level of sarcasm?”

“If you can ask the questions without the usual level of stupid.” Really don’t like this guy. Does it show?

“Where’s your dad, and why’s no one been able to contact him?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in hours.” At least I can answer that honestly. 

“Is he drinking again?” What is it with this guy and drinking? Projecting maybe?

Being petulant and all, I let out an obvious sigh. “What do you mean again? He never had to stop.”

“But he did have to slow down. Is he drinking like he used to?” No, he isn’t and you might have known that if you hadn’t walked out on your kid and wife.

“All right, how about this? The next time I see him I’ll give him a field sobriety test, okay? We’ll do the alphabet, start with ‘F’ and end with ‘U’.”

He doesn’t look too happy, and that makes me well, not happy, but at least pleased with myself. “How about you just tell me what the hell happened here.”

I let out a breath, here is where the lies have to start. “I don’t know what happened here. I was stuck in the elevators the whole time. Got in a pretty shitty nap.”

“You’re not the one who put the name on the doors, are you?”

“What name?” He doesn’t tell me but leads me over to the elevator and when they close Argent is spelled out across them. Shit. He starts to ask me if I know the name and I tell him yes, I go to school with Allison Argent. I can’t really hide that because it is something that someone with his level of clearance will have access to. He tries to ask me a few more questions, but it feels more like an interrogation than anything else. “I don’t think I want to talk to you anymore without a layer present, this sounds more like you accusing me, then asking questions. And since I don’t have a parent or guardian,” the word is hard for me to get out, “present, you can’t really do anything. So I am just gonna go home and get some sleep before School tomorrow, capiche?” Since there really isn’t any reason he can hold me I get to go. But home is not where I am headed.

I call Allison to see where she and her father are. She says they are at their apartment. I tell them not to go anywhere, I am on my way now. Then I call Derek. “Hey, don’t think I’m gonna make it out to the house after all. Sorry.”

“What’s wrong? I felt your anger earlier.”

“Oh, just Scott’s douche bag of a father coming back into town trying to stir shit up. If you could warn him for me that would be amazing. But that isn’t why I am calling. There was a name written on the elevator doors, it said Argent. I think Allison’s father is the third Guardian. I am going over there now to make sure nothing happens, and see if we can plan something to figure out where they are being kept. If they’re not dead yet.”

“Stiles, you can do this. I know you can.” I am glad that he doesn’t say that they are still alive. He knows the reality of the situation, he has been there before. I am not made of glass, and he doesn’t treat me like I am. For that I am grateful. 

“Thanks. I will keep you updated on what is going on.”

“Okay, be safe.”

“You too.” I hang up and by the time I get off the phone I am in front of the Argent’s apartment building. When I get upstairs, I am surprised to see Isaac there already. I know that he and Allison have been growing closer since the summer, but I didn’t think they were this close already. Then again I spent two months searching for Boyd, and then this whole Alpha pack, and Darach thing happened, and I guess I haven’t been as focused on the pack as I used to be. But Derek has been there, so that is good. But when this is all over, I am going to make massive apologies. Cookies usually work for that kind of stuff. I am sure they will accept cookies.

I tell Chris that it is his name on the doors, and that he is going to be the third sacrifice. Allison thinks it might have been Morrell who wrote it trying to warn them, but if that is what she is doing, then she is a little late and needs to get on that a lot faster. The eclipse is only two nights away. And Chris tells me not to give up hope. I am barely holding onto it right now.

“They could already be dead. I can’t feel the bond to them. It is just gone.”

“I don’t think so. There’s something about Jennifer’s tactics. It’s like she’s still positioning pieces into place.”

“And you’re one of them.” Allison looks really worried, and really she should be. Two of the pack member’s parents, two pack members, have been taken already.

“Then let’s not wait around to see the next move. Everything she’s done has been on the Telluric Currents, so Mellissa and the Sheriff have to be somewhere on one of those currents right?” I can hear what he’s saying, and it makes sense, but everything that’s been happening, and all the tiredness from casting is taking its toll on me. “Stiles, if we are going to find them we will need your help.”

“You seriously want to go after her? I mean what if she just takes you like the others, huh? No offense, but what’s the difference between you and them?”

“I’m carrying a .45”

“And she has more power than you can possibly imagine. That storm that cut all the power, yeah she caused that. She amplified it to make it strong enough to do what it did. She is strong enough to keep up a glamor, like, permanently. She can take it down when she wants, and it can be forced down, but it doesn’t take anything from her to keep it up. If I were to try that, it would either fail after ten minutes, or I would faint from exhaustion. I don’t think you fully grasp what it is you are dealing with here.”

“Look, the first priority is to find your dad and Mellissa and to do that I need your help. The one thing we don’t have is time.”

I don’t take long to make up my mind, but I really don’t think that he should be putting himself in danger. I want to send him to the pack house, and leave him there. I am sure Allison feels the same way, but I don’t’ think that will happen. “Where do we start.”

Chris pulls out his maps and spreads them out using the black-light to show the markings. “The places where the sacrifices are taken and killed have been different. I think the placement has to do with the strength of the current. So there’s the school, the animal clinic, and the bank.”

“Wait. See hasn’t succeeded at the bank. Allison and Scott saved Deaton. But that’s just one place so far. We are going to need more help.”

“Lydia.” Isaac says what I am thinking.

“What could she do?”

“She has a talent you could say.” I’m not sure I should say, but Chris seems to be trustworthy.

“Talent?”

“She’s a Banshee.” Chris looks shocked for all of two seconds, and then the calm comes back. 

“Explains a few things.”

“Yeah.” They start to pull out a whole bunch of weapons. I knew Allison wouldn’t let her dad retire. They are getting ready to check the bank. It’s morning. I can’t believe it’s dawn already. No rest for the wicked and all that I guess. I call Derek and tell him what is going on, and that I want him to stay with Cora until the back up to one-hundred percent. And that he should keep the pack at home. I want to make sure they are all safe, and I don’t really care about appearances at this point. Hopefully we will be able to figure some things out.

I get some clothes out of the jeep to change into, and the head to Lydia’s to talk to her, and offer her a ride to school. Time to try and put those Banshee powers to use. 

“What can I do? I get that I’m some human Geiger counter for death, but… I don’t know how to turn it on and off yet.” She wants to help, I can tell that she really doesn’t know what to do. Jackson is there too, but I think he is going to the house instead of school. As much as I might like it if one of the wolves was there, it is probably better that they aren’t going to be. Then Lydia gets a contemplative look on her face. 

“What is it Lyds?”

“She was surprised to find out I was a Banshee. What if that’s not the reason she was trying to kill me?”

“Then why did she?”

“That’s what we have to find out.”

At the school we are at a loss for where to start. I send a message to Ethan hoping that he shed some light on what Deucalion is planning, but also to see if he and his brother have made a decision on what we offered them last night. The first few classes pass by slowly and I am too distracted to actually pay attention. All I can do is think of how to solve this problem. And with half the equation missing, it is making it kind of hard.

We are headed to lunch when check my phone again to see that I still have no messages. “The twins aren’t texting me back.” I don’t know what to do. How can I find the answers without knowing what I’m looking for?

“Look maybe we can just go over there and…” I don’t know what she was going to say, but we both hear my phone go off, and I pull it out of my pocket to check it. It’s from Isaac, and now I can feel the fear and sadness that is coming from Allison and him. “What is it?”

“It’s a message from Isaac. Jennifer, she took… she took Allison’s father, she took him. She’s got all three now.” As I am trying to put my phone back in my pocket, my hands start to shake and I miss the first time. I can feel a panic attack. It’s right there, and I don’t think I can stop it.

“There’s still time. We still have time right? Stiles?” Yup it’s started. My breathing gets shallower, and the hyperventilating is starting. I try to calm myself like I was taught all those years ago, but none of the techniques I learned are helping. “Are you okay? What is it? What’s wrong?” I spin to face away from her, I don’t know why, to find something to stop this from happening, like the answer will be right there? I make a full circle and face her again, but my eyes are stuck on the ground and my hands are vibrating at my sides. “Stiles?”

I have to tell her, can I even speak? “I’m having a panic attack.” Okay so that got out. Her eyes go wide and she looks a bit scared, like she doesn’t know what to do. I can feel my phone vibrating in my pocket but there is no way I am cognitive enough to answer it. Lydia looks around the hallway and then seems to make a decision. She starts pulling me down the hallway, and I realize that we are headed for the locker room. Good. Away from people. That’s good. My phone keeps going off but I still can do anything about it. As I stumble into the room, I end up on the floor leaning against the lockers and Lydia kneels down with me.

“Just try and calm down. Try to think of something else. Anything else.”

“Like what.” I can barely speak.

“Good things, Happy things, uh, friends family.” I give her an incredulous look, or at least I try, because really? “Oh, I mean- not family. Oh God, okay. Oh, just… try and slow your breathing.”

“I can’t, I can’t.” This is bad. I can’t breathe, barely any air is making it into my lungs, and I feel like I am on the verge of passing out. I haven’t had a panic attack this bad since mom died. The few that I have had in the last year don’t even compare. Maybe if I pass out, I will be able to breathe again. And right as I think it’s at its worst, Derek bursts through the door. I barely blink and he is by my side wrapping me in his strong embrace and is kissing me. Not the kind of kiss I really ever want to have, but when he pulls back I am breathing. Still shallow, but it is evening out. “Thanks. How’d you do that?”

“I know you get them sometimes, so I looked into how to stop them. Best way is to hold your breath and when I kissed you, you did.”

“I did?”

“Yeah, you did.” He is looking at me with worry in his eyes, but he hasn’t let me go, and I am grasping him back like my life depends on it. I don’t want to ever let him go.

“Thanks. You’re really smart.”

“If he was really smart he would tell you to sign up for a few sessions with the guidance counselor.” She says it in a mocking tone, trying to lighten the mood, but then it hits me. Where can we go to get answers.

“Morrell!” Derek helps me up and we race off to the guidance office. It’s just after lunch so the halls are clear, and everyone’s in class. Not even knocking we open the door, and sitting in the chair opposite the desk is Danielle. She was a friend of Heather’s I think. That sends a punch to my already bruised gut. I feel like I should have talked to her. Even if it was just to trade stupid stories about our dead friend. The only person missing is Morrell. So my mouth moves before I can think. “Are you here to see Morrell?”

“No, I thought this was gym class.”

“Sweetheart, we’re not in the mood for funny, do you know where she is?” Lydia, sticking to business. Gotta love her.

“If I did, I wouldn’t be waiting here for twenty minutes. So how about you three back out the door and wait your turn?” She gives Derek and appreciative glance, and I just want to cover him with my own body so that she can’t see him. Jennifer really did mess up my whole possessiveness over him. Or maybe it’s just the wolves around me rubbing off on me.

“We’re not here for a session.”

“Well, I am. And I’ve got some serious issues to work on.”

“You were friends with Heather right?”

“I was her best friend. We’ve been working on this three times a week.”

Hold on, did you say Ms. Morrell’s twenty minutes late?”

“And I don’t know why either. She’s always on time.”

Lydia looks at me with a grave face. “I was seeing her at the beginning of the semester, she was never late.”

“Then she’s not late. She’s missing.” The only question is why. Is it the Alpha’s or is it Jennifer?

“What if we’re not the only ones who think she knows something?” And this is why Lydia and I make a great team. We think alike.

“Then I want to know what she knows.” Not wasting any more time, I move to go around her desk and start rummaging through her files.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to find her.” Danielle looks like she is ready to burst on us, so I try to stay as cool as possible.

“Those are private.”

“Yeah, she’s kind of right.” Lydia really?

“That one’s yours.” I hold out a folder to Lydia and she takes it from my hand.

“Let me see that.” She starts flipping through it and Danielle starts to stand up. Then I see the drawing of the tree that Lydia has been doing of late.

“Wait Lyds. That’s your drawing.”

“I know, it’s a tree.” Danielle is now looking over Lydia’s shoulder trying to sneak a peek.

“Yeah, it’s good too.”

“Thank you.”

Back on task. “No, But that’s the same one, though.”

“Same as what?”

“It’s the same one I always see you drawing in class.”

“It’s a tree. I like drawing trees.” She is looking at me like I hit my head or something. Derek is staying by the door, not saying anything, but is giving me silent courage and strength.

“No, but it’s the exact same one. Don’t you see? Give me your bag.” I don’t even give her a chance, I take out her notebook and start flipping pages until I hit a drawing and then place them side by side. It’s like exactly the same. I keep turning pages and they are all the same. Derek has moved closer, and Danielle is backing off. “See.”

“Okay, you can have my session. You have bigger issues.”

“What is this?” She sounds afraid. This is part of her power. It is trying to tell her something. As I am looking at her tree, I start to notice something odd about it. So I turn it, and keep turning, then it is completely upside down. 

“I know where they are. Well I don’t, but you do Derek. It’s the root cellar. It’s something called a Nemeton. It has to be there.” 

He looks sad for a moment before answering. “I don’t know where it is either. After Paige, my mother wanted to make sure that I would never go back there and took the memory of its location from me.” Then Derek’s ears perk up a bit and it looks like he is listening for something. “Someone’s looking for you.”

“Shit. Okay, stay here with Lydia. Try to think if there’s a way that you can retrieve that memory. It’s probably the FBI wanting to talk about Dad. Get out of here when the coast is clear. Love you.” I lean in and give him a quick kiss before slipping out into the hallway and getting accosted by Agent McCall. He says something about my dad, and his car still being in the parking lot, and about him being officially missing. Then he pulls me into an empty classroom so we can talk some more.

“Stiles, why do I get the feeling that you know something that would help us find your dad?”

“If I did, why would I not tell you?”

“If it meant helping your dad why wouldn’t you?”

“So you’re asking me to tell you what I wouldn’t not tell you?”

“First, I have no idea what you just said. Second, how about you just help me help you?”

“Well I don’t know how to help you help me tell you something that would help you if I don’t know it.”

‘Are you doing this on purpose?”

“I don’t know anything, okay? Can I just go?” I really want to. I still have to figure out how to find the Nemeton, and I don’t know how to do that.

“Where are your other friends?”

“You mean Scott?”

“I mean Scott. I mean Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent, Erica Ryes, Vernon Boyd, Jackson Whittemore, the twins Ethan and Aiden. I’ve been told most of your little clique didn’t show up at school today.”

“I don’t have a clique. And if you had stuck around long enough you might know that your son and I aren’t as close as we used to be.”

“Stiles come on. There’s been a pretty disturbing level of violent activity in this county in the last few months, several murders tied to this school. I don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s serious. And- Hey.” So I started to drift mentally from the conversation. He is just saying the same things I already know and I don’t know what he thinks I am going to be able to tell him. Shouldn’t he be out here looking for answers? I doubt that any of them lead to me. I can’t stop thinking about how I have to find My dad and the others, and then there is stopping Jennifer and Deucalion, and really, how am I supposed to do all of it? “Your dad is missing.” I know that. And the look I give him tells him as much. “Fine. But I don’t want you going home alone. You have someone you can stay with tonight?”

Deaton appears in the doorway then. “He’s with me.” McCall doesn’t look convinced but when he says that he is a friend of the family and that I work at the animal clinic he runs, McCall lets me go. I am shocked that he is there in the first place, that I just run with it. Really anything at this point to get me the hell out of there. 

Once we reach my jeep I can’t really hold it in any longer. “Really! Now you choose to get up off your ass and do something! I mean thanks for getting me out of there, but really! What could you possibly want with me now? I have about six billion things to do and less than two days to do it.”

He doesn’t flinch back from my onslaught, just stands there perfectly still as if he was expecting it all. And he probably was. Damn future vision powers. “I know what you are searching for, and no I don’t know where it is, or can I see it in any vision. But I wanted to tell you, that you can find it. You have the ability. All you have to do is ground yourself, and enter a meditative state, then stretch your power out to search for a natural power source outside yourself. But you will probably need most, if not all, of the pack to anchor you. Spreading yourself out like that is dangerous, and I can’t tell you what will happen while you are searching, but I now that you will be able to find it that way.” 

I almost apologize to him, but there is too much to do, and I still want to hit him, so I don’t. I just turn and get in the jeep muttering out a thanks and start to call Isaac, and text the rest of the pack. They all are going to get to the house, even though most of them are there already, and I am going to pick up Isaac and Allison on my way. 

When I do pick them up, they both get in the back and Isaac keeps and arm around her and one hand in hers. I knew that the two of them were getting close, it is starting to show more and more. I am happy for them, it is pretty shitty circumstances, but as well that ends well I suppose. 

At the house the rest of the pack is waiting for us outside, and they all look antsy. Derek meets me at the jeep and puts an arm around my waist as we walk up to the house. When we get up the stairs Cora is waiting just in front of the door and she looks a bit uncomfortable. Kinda like Derek did before I made him join in on puppy piles. But she does reach out and pull me into a quick hug with a muttered ‘thanks’ before pulling away. 

We move downstairs so I can use the isolated space to help focus. Derek shifts to his wolf form so he can help me get to my meditative state, and the others work themselves around the room. Derek lies down and I curl myself into him allowing myself to indulge in the smell of his fur and the comfort it brings me. I am so tired, I’ve been awake for almost forty-eight hours and I really could use a nap right about now. But there are other things that need to be done. So I settle myself in and start to focus on the power in my chest, and letting it flow out of me and into the world around me. I can feel the pack and their bristle over the feeling of my magic on their skin. It continues out past the house and into the preserve. I have never gone this far before, and Deaton was right. If I didn’t have the whole pack here with me now, I might get lost in this feeling. I keep searching hoping that I will find the Nemeton and our parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this couldn't be a happier update. No Stydia kiss in this fic. Derek felt the edge of panic and came to Stiles as fast as he could. Also, no sacrifices. While that makes for great story plot lines and all that jazz, I think that there had to be another way to find it. I mean huge magical beacon, really? Also there has been enough death in this fic, and we aren't quite done with it yet. But I can't wait to give you guys the the next chapter. Major changes happen there, and I so want to share that with you, but unfortunately that will have to wait until Saturday... 
> 
> Please tell me what you think, and thanks for all the support! 
> 
> Happy Holidays!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, last chapter. Only the Epilogue left!

When my senses finally find the Nemeton, I am thrown into the memories from the pack members that have encountered it.

First is Scott. He is running through the woods just after being bitten. He runs past it without even seeing it there. Lydia comes across it when she was running naked through the woods. She was half out of her mind, so the large stump doesn’t register and she keeps slowly wandering on. Jackson finds it the night he was turned. He was running through the woods all animal instinct. He pauses by the stump long enough to gain the scent of something and then is off again. Erica and Boyd are together when they find it. The Argent Hunters are close on their tails, and I know this is the night that Gerard captured them, and beat the shit out of me. Allison finds it when her and her mom almost run over someone standing in the road, and the rain is pouring down. She gets out when her mom stops and races through the trees stopping just a few yards away from it. Isaac finds it when he is rushing through the woods right after Scott tries to apologize to him the first time. He dashes right by it, only concerned on getting away from town. Cora stumbles on it on a mad dash through the forest. I think that this is when she started running after the fire. 

Derek’s encounter with it is all too vivid in my memory. He never shared Paige’s death with me, but it doesn’t take much to picture it. He is coming out of the root cellar with his mother. She is beautiful. I have seen a few half burned pictures of her, but to see her up close is another experience in itself. Derek looks so much like her, he has her eyes and dark hair. She looks fierce but in a controlled way that not even Erica can quite pull off. I wish I could have met her. I wish I could have met Derek’s whole family. Maybe in another lifetime.

Then it’s me. I am running through the woods. It’s all back to that first night when I pulled Scott out of bed to look for half a body in the preserve. I found it when I pulled away from the then asthmatic Scott, and right before Dad found me. I ran right by it, and I didn’t even see it. How could I not have seen the large stump in the middle of the forest? I mean this thing is as big around as a redwood. I wonder what kind of tree it was before it was just a stump with roots. What kind of power did it possess then?

All of a sudden with a rush, I know exactly where it is. It’s not too far from here actually. I am slammed back into my body and left gasping for air. Derek shifts back to his human form and is on me right away making sure I am okay. The rest of the pack looks like I just disturbed their afternoon nap. “How long was I out?”

“Sixteen hours.”

“What!”

“And the full moon rises in four.” I used up our time. Like all of it. I can’t believe I wasted it. I mean I found it so it’s not all wasted, but still. Then my phone goes off. It’s Ethan. ‘we need your help to stop Kali from killing Derek.’ I know that they want to join the pack now.

“Derek. They said yes.” He nods. “Okay so I figured out where it is. It isn’t too far from here actually. I don’t know what kind of protections she has laid down, so I want all of you to go. Use all your senses, and Lydia, don’t go against your gut. Danny, Cora, I want you two to come to the loft with me and Derek. The twins have pretty much agreed to join the pack, and they want to help us stop Kali. Before you guys go out into the woods, stop by our houses and get some things of the parents to try and track by scent. That might help.” No one wastes any time, they all get up and leave like this is what they have been waiting for. And I guess in a sense it is. It’s what we’ve been waiting for, for a while now. We have a plan of action and we are making our move. Finally.

The four of us head to the loft, and I tell the twins to meet us there. When they come in, we are all waiting for them, and when Ethan sees Danny, he isn’t all that surprised, but Aiden is. He doesn’t say anything, but I can feel the anger start to come off him. “He’s part of your pack?”

“Yeah, we were playing you, just like you were playing us. Don’t even deny that’s what your intent was. But what they feel for each other is genuine, and I would never try and besmirch that. Would you deny your brother happiness?” Aiden doesn’t say anything more to that and lets the topic drop. 

Ethan speaks up though. “We know about the lunar eclipse and Kali isn’t going to wait for it to even the playing field. She’s coming.”

“We figured as much. And you two have decided?”

“We don’t want to be a part of their pack anymore. But how can we join yours. You already have an Alpha, and it’s not like we can just give up our power.”

“That… isn’t entirely true.”

“What?”

“I found a spell that would take the Alpha power from you, and drop you down to Betas. The power that you are giving up, since it is willingly given, will be dispersed to the pack and make each wolf stronger for it. So not only will you be joining the pack and making it stronger in numbers, you will be adding to the pack’s strength as a whole. Each wolf will gain a bit of the power you are giving up. Yourselves included. But should you join the pack there are a few conditions that we have to put into place. First, you must listen to Derek and I. We are the Alpha pair and what we say goes. When neither of us is around, Isaac is the head Beta. He is Derek’s second and you should follow his leadership in our absence. Second, just because you were once Alphas, does not mean you can continue to act like them. I know the power shift will take time to get used to, but everyone in the pack is equal. No one is better than the others, where one pack member is lacking, another excels. We work as a team. As a family, and it may take some time for you to truly become a part of that, but you will always be welcome. Third, you will submit to Derek. We have had issues in the past with feigned pledges of allegiance that worked against us, and we can’t allow that to happen again. The last thing, is that is probationary. You will not be kicked out or treated as anything other than a member of the pack, but if you should put the pack in harm or not follow any of the rules we have placed down, you will be kicked out of the pack and run out of town. We are a family. We act like it and we expect you to act like it to.”

Through the whole time I was speaking Ethan looked a bit happier and thoughtful, while Aiden looked hesitant and contemplative. But in the end they both accept the offer given and I pull out the herbs to use as the focus for the spell and start concentrating on the two wolves before me. As I draw their power from them, their eyes flash red, then shift to the icy blue I thought they would become. As the shift takes place I can hear their growls start powerful enough to rattle the windows and dull more to what one would expect from a Beta. The power flows out of them and into me. Then I direct it into the pack bond and let it seep into the invisible black cords that connect me to everyone in the pack. Finally when the spell is complete, Derek steps forward and the twins bare their necks to him. Just like with Scott, Derek lets out a howl, then Cora joins, and finally the twins. The threads of the pack bond lance out and now I can feel them too. The pack continues to grow stronger all the time. We have only been together for about six months, and yet in that time so much has changed. I can’t imagine what we will be like ten years from now.

But now is not the time. Kali is on her way, and I can’t allow her to kill Derek. I will have to do it if Jennifer doesn’t show up in time. A storm is brewing again, but this time there was no storm to start. She is causing this entire thing to happen. For some reason she keeps coming back to Derek, so I am pretty sure that she will show up just in time to take on Kali. I feel like it is the Kanima all over again. There is a countdown in my head, and I know when I need to be, where I need to be. Things are going to work out. I can tell. 

So I place Derek and Cora in a circle of mountain ash and will them to be unseen, unheard, and untraceable by anyone who isn’t pack. Then I draw out one of my stronger protection circles on the floor by the stairs and have Danny and Ethan stand in it while Aiden and I wait near the table. Aiden still doesn’t trust me all the much, but I sent out some calming thoughts to try and make the adjustment a bit easier. He recoils at that for a minute. “Didn’t Deucalion tell you anything about me? I assumed he knew.”

“Deucalion only told us what he thought we needed to know. We knew you were Derek’s emissary, but past that, not much else.”

“Wow. Okay well while we wait, not only am I Derek’s emissary, I am his Mate. His True Mate. And he is a True Alpha. Yeah power couple I know. My powers to put them simply are Empathy, Bonds, and Shields. So what you just felt was me trying to help calm you. I can feel what you guys put out. I try not to abuse this power, but if what you are feeling is really strong, then there isn’t much I can do about it, and I apologize. Sometimes I don’t even know when I am sending out vibes as the pack likes to call it; I do it to keep everyone balanced and happy. I don’t take away what you’re feeling, just try to help you sort it out. If you don’t like it, I will try and remember not to.”

Ethan doesn’t say anything, but he seems a bit distracted with Danny. Aiden eyes me up warily, but just nods in acceptance. These guys aren’t bad, they were just tools that Deucalion thought he could manipulate and control. This is where the bad guys always seem to underestimate me. And I always comes back to bite them in the ass later on. I do love to watch it though. Makes my insides all warm and fuzzy.

Kali appears not too much longer after that and knocks the alarm that is blaring out, off the wall, stopping the noise. “Where is he?”

I snap my fingers and bang my fists together swinging my arms back and forth ending with finger guns pointed at her. “I think he said he has some shopping to do. Something about a wolfy problem on the full moon and the eclipse. Wanted to get some special glasses to watch it with.”

“Who do you think you are talking to?”

I look down at her toe claws. “Someone who could use a pedicure.” Lydia would be so proud of me. “I mean do you paint them black yourself? It could use some work.”

She starts to take a step towards Danny like he is the easiest target in the room, but Ethan starts to growl at her. “Really? Did someone take their assignment too seriously?”

Ethan growls out around extended fangs. “He’s not the problem.”

“Maybe the problem is where your loyalties lie.”

“Not so much a problem. Not anymore. They decided to play on the right team. You know, the one that’s going to win.” And I know I have timed it right, because just then Jennifer crashes through the glass skylight in the ceiling. I make sure to move Aiden and me out of the way placing us in the circle too and closing it up. I don’t want whatever kind of battle is about to rage to hurt any of us. Danny is still at the back with Ethan and Aiden flanking me. And I am so done hiding my power. If this bitch wants to know what I am, then here we go.

“Who’s first.” Jennifer looks hungry for a fight and Kali doesn’t disappoint. Even with her Alpha speed and strength she isn’t able to touch the Darach. Jennifer even gets in a few hits of her own, and they are strong. Like strong enough to knock Kali back. Back far enough to get her against a wall. “Do you know how much power it takes to look like this?” She is so vain. I mean if I looked like she really does, I might too, but really?

“I don’t care.”

“Power. Power like this.” She uses her telekinesis to lift all the glass that is on the floor and float it in front of her.

“I-I should have ripped your head off!” Kali screams and then Jennifer hurls all the glass and Kali is struck dead. There are some injuries that not even an Alpha can come back from. And getting your whole body pierced with glass shards is defiantly one of them. The storm seems to grow a bit stronger and cackles with magical energy. Then Jennifer turns to look at me.

“Okay Stiles, why don’t you let Derek out to play now. Pretty clever of you, hiding your power like you did. Strong too. But not as strong as me.” She lifts a finger and shakes it mockingly at me. Like she has any clue just how strong I can be.

“And why should I do that?”

“Because if you want to take down Deucalion you’ll need my help whether you like it or not.”

“Do it. I trust you.” Nodding to Derek, I let the mountain ash circle break and force it into a pile. “You did this for me?”

“For us. For anyone who’s ever been their victim.”

“Stop talking to me like a politician. Stop trying to convince me of your cause! You took Stiles’ father. My Mate’s father. What reason should I trust you?”

“Mate?” She looks a bit dubious at that.

“Yeah, forgot to mention that little tidbit didn’t we? Must have slipped our minds.”

She lets the shock go, “It doesn’t matter I just need your help.”

“Why me?”

“I need a guardian. That can be you or their parents.”

“You just killed Kali all on your own. What do you need me for?”

“You haven’t seen Deucalion at this strongest. I have. I don’t stand a chance unless I have you.”

“No. You won’t have him.” I know Derek will go anyway, but I am making sure that I am there. No way in hell am I not going to be there.

“I won’t be powerful enough without a guardian and I don’t think you want your father dead.”

“You won’t be without one. I don’t know what name you took before you became what you are, but do you know mine?”

She lets out a laugh and a grin. “Guardian? Really? Well then, this makes things that much better. Two emissaries taking on the Demon Wolf. Perfect.” Her smile is evil. Like mega levels of evil. 

“I won’t let you go alone.” And I didn’t expect him too.

“That’s fine two guardians would be better anyway.”

“Fine. I know where you’re meeting him. We will be there. I give you my word as a Guardian.”

“And mine as an Alpha.”

“I just have a few things I need to do to prepare us.”

She smiles that smile again. It really makes me want to slap it off her face. “See you there.” And she walks out the door like she just didn’t kill a person.

Turning to make sure everyone else is okay, I sigh with relief. That went a bit easier than I thought it would. But Derek doesn’t look too happy with me. “Look, you remember when we defeated Gerard and the Kanima, and how I said that I felt like there was this countdown timer going off in my head, and how it told me where to be and when?” He nods, and I tap my head again. “Yeah, well, it’s happening again, and for some reason I have to be there. But I have a few plans on how to get around the eclipse.” He looks at me with a strange expression, questioning me, but not probing. Ethan and Aiden are already cleaning up Kali’s body, and I feel bad for them. She was their old pack mate after all, but they don’t seem that upset about it. I guess when your pack treats you like the hired muscle, there isn’t much love to go around. After that’s taken care of I tell the four of them to join in the search for the parents. I need to keep everyone away from the distillery. That is where the final showdown will take place. 

Then I take Derek out to the car and tell him to drive to our clearing. I have some major magic to weave, and I can’t have any distractions. He again looks at me with curiosity, but says nothing. He trusts me implicitly and knows I would never put him in danger. 

Once we get there, I start to draw a circle in the mud and dirt and once it’s complete it starts to glow a pale white. The moon is high overhead and it is a full moon, so it is large in the sky. “Stiles, what are you doing exactly?”

I give him a wicked smile. “Derek, you have to be quite if you want me to give you the moon.” Then I turn back and face the moon lifting my hands towards it and start focusing on what I want to happen. My magic rises from my chest, and I can feel it lace through my arms and shoot out of my fingertips reaching for the orb in the sky. When it has latched on, I pull it back, and pull my hands together. When everything is settled, I open my eyes, and Derek is standing right in front of me eyes wide. I open my hands and there is faint glow of a white metal disk resting in my palms. 

“Stiles, what did you do?”

“I captured a bit of the full moon.” I pull a leather cord out of my pocket and tie it through the small hole in the top of the medallion. “This way you are never without it, should you need it. Like say, during a lunar eclipse.” Derek’s eyes go wider, if that’s even possible and an almost feral grin adorns his face.

“Stiles, that is some powerful magic.”

“Not really, I wanted to shield you from losing a part of yourself. I willed the shield magic to protect some of the moon, I wasn’t sure how that would work, but I think this will do fine. Deaton has always said it I just have to believe it can happen and it will. Yeah, normally I throw up a shield like a physical barrier, but it doesn’t always have to be like that. There are other things to protect.” Derek doesn’t let me say anything else, just presses his lips to mine in a kiss that leaves me breathless. I mean I kind of deserved it and all, giving him the moon. I still can’t stop saying that. I mean how many people offer to do that for the one they love, yet I actually accomplished it. It’s all kinds of cheesy and I love it. “Now I think we are more than prepared to take on Jennifer and Deucalion, although something tells me that they will be the ones fighting each other, and all we will have to do is watch. Well that is unless one of them really starts to come for us, then it’s on.”

Derek takes me in his arms and crushes me to his chest, and I can feel the vibrations from his growl through my whole body. Then he leans in a whispers into my ear, his hot breath tickling me in a sensual way. “If we had the time, I would fuck you so hard, you would black out from the pleasure.” 

A shiver of want and need races through my body. “I’ll hold you to that later, but for now, we have a Darach and a Demon Wolf to take care of.” We regain our composure and head back to the car and drive to the distillery, this is it, the final showdown. I feel like there should be music or something. I mean we are so badass, we should have a theme song. When I tell this to Derek he laughs and kisses the back of my hand. 

Then I get a text from Isaac, they found our parents, and are getting them back to the house as fast as werewolfly possible. Yeah, everything is gonna be fine.  
…

We enter the distillery from the back entrance. Jennifer is coming in from the front, and Deucalion is already standing opposite both doors waiting for us. Jennifer looks calm in control, but she is laced with fear. This is the first time I have felt her truly afraid of something. Deucalion is rolling in overconfidence and lust. But it’s for power, not for any other reason, that would just be creepy. Like mega levels of creepy. 

“Did you gather your herbs, pray to your ancient Gods and your oak trees, slit a baby’s throat perhaps?” He is taking off his sunglasses, jacket, and places his cane off to the side, and moves towards the center of the open warehouse part of the building we are in. On the far wall I can see the claw marks of the vendetta symbol carved into the metal wall. “Should we show them why you had to sacrifice twelve innocent people just to face me?” He is starting the shift to his Beta form, and it is not right. His skin is dark, his eyes glow with a red that is more like blood than the usual crimson, and his features are less wolf and more… something else. “Or is it fifteen now?”

I don’t know why I have never felt the power on him before, I mean I know Derek is much stronger than what Peter was, and the whole Alpha pack was considerably stronger because of their taking of the power from their packs, but his power is something else entirely. Derek doesn’t hesitate, he goes right in for the first strike. But he doesn’t make it too far before he is caught by Deucalion. He clamps a hand around Derek’s throat and is lifting him off the ground. Jennifer steps forward and tries to push him with her power, but it does nothing. Then Deucalion has her in the same way lifting her off her feet. He grows bored and throws them back. I catch Derek midair and he rushes back in, this time with a shield of mine thrown up around him. It doesn’t protect him entirely, not like it would normally, but now it will be more like fighting a regular Alpha rather than whatever the hell it is Deucalion has warped himself into. He manages to throw Derek again, and I am too concentrated on the shield, that he goes flying. 

“Do you hear that storm? It’s her connection to the telluric currents. Kill her and it ends.” His voice is warped just like his body. It doesn’t even sound like a wolf. It sounds like something that doesn’t belong in this world. Maybe Demon Wolf is an accurate description. Something I should probably look into after all this is over. That is if we survive. I mean we will, but still, there is always that small chance. 

“It won’t end, not with me. He’ll kill you and everyone you love.” Really, are the trying to campaign for my loyalties right now. I mean it’s pretty obvious that I am against both of them. They have both hurt me and the pack. I don’t want to work with either one of them, and if they don’t get that by now, well then there really isn’t any hope for them. Not that there was before. 

“They’re dying Stiles. Your father and the parents of your friends. Kill her now and it’s over.”

“You know, the two of you severely underestimate me. Story of my life, but really? The rents are safe, and do I really look like a killer to you? I mean sure I may want people dead, but I would never kill someone.” I cross my arms over my chest and take a petulant stance, but what can I say, they are really starting to piss me off. And sometimes my mouth gets away from me sometimes. 

“Maybe you just need the right motivation.” He grabs Derek in another hand around the throat maneuver and I am so sick of this. Deucalion thinks I don’t know his weakness. He isn’t always blind. As a wolf, he can see just fine. So I toss out my own version of a magical quicksilver, knowing that Derek will have his eyes closed and be able to get away just fine. It works, and Deucalion drops Derek to cover his eyes, and he is almost fearful in that moment. It’s kind of cute, only not really. 

In all the chaos, Jennifer seems to have slipped out, but then the eclipse starts and I can feel her trying to draw from her reserve power. She emerges in her natural from, not the glamor she has been trying so hard to sell us all on. As she starts to wail on Deucalion and he takes it hard, like really hard. Derek was edging around them. “Stop!” Derek yells out. And instantly I pick up on what he is thinking. She is beyond saving, but he might not be. 

“Jennifer! He doesn’t know.” And that gets her to stop dropping him from where she was bashing his skull into the floor. 

“Know what?” And that is not her voice. I mean it is, but it is so weird to hear her real voice and not the one she wants us to hear.

“What you really look like. He knows the cost of bringing Kali into his pack-“ Derek starts and I know where to take it from there.

“-but he’s never seen the price you paid.” If she does what I think she will, not even the power she has maintained up to now will keep her strong. The only reason I was fine after healing Cora was because I had a pack to draw strength and power from.

“No, he doesn’t.” She bends back over him and places her hand over his human eyes. Deucalion starts to scream in pain, and then he is still again. Blinking. “Turn to me” He does and he sees her. She backs away and as the fog clears from his sight, he can see the scarred face and ripped body that Jennifer was left in. Then she starts to sway and falls over.

She looks to us confused. “Healing him made you weak. You won’t have your strength for a few minutes.” Derek answers her unasked question.

“Then you do it. Kill him.”

Derek looks to me. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t ask anything, just looks at me lovingly. “No. Like my mother used to say. I’m a predator. I don’t have to be a killer.” I grab his hand, but then Jennifer attacks us, but Derek fends her off and throws her away from us. 

“What’s this?” She is almost snarling, which really isn’t a pretty look on her. 

The pendant has slipped from under Derek’s shirt and shines like the moon on a clear night. “I gave him a bit of the moon. What can I say, I’m a romantic at heart.” She goes to attack again, but between my shield and Derek’s strength, she isn’t even able to lay a hand on either of us. Then the eclipse is over. It only lasted for fifteen minutes. That is all we needed. 

“Your fifteen minutes are up.” She runs back to the entrance, and throws up a ring of mountain ash. I don’t know what she thinks that is going to do. I mean Deucalion can’t get past it, but Derek can. He has before. 

“I guess it’s the parents. Don’t think I can’t still kill them.” Derek and I are both done with this. He rushes the line and a brilliant blue energy envelopes him as he pushes past it. When it breaks the blue energy fills everyone’s vision and then the line is broken.

“Again. You underestimate us. Too much.”

She stands there in shock and it is enough time for Derek to move back to me, and for Deucalion to move forward to slash her throat. She falls lifeless to the floor, and Deucalion turns to us with blue eyes. He can see again. I wonder if he will use the gift wisely.

Isaac calls to tell us that they made it to the house and that everyone is alive and safe. I tell him to wait there for us. We shouldn’t be too much longer. Then Derek and I turn to Deucalion together. He takes a moment to appraise us, and I can tell that he is unsure of how to feel. His emotions are conflicted. I let Derek take the lead, “My mother once told me you were a man of vision once.”

“We’re letting you go because we hope that you can be that man again. There has been enough death.” Deucalion seems resigned to that, so we turn to leave. I take a few steps forward, but then I feel Deucalion’s anger and know that he is about to attack, so I make the first move. Well second, he did take a step forward before I did anything. I throw up a ring of mountain ash, more to keep him in than Derek out, and twist myself quickly placing myself behind Deucalion. Kicking out at his knees to bring him down, I put my hands on either side of his head touching his temples willing him to calm and stripping away any emotion that would allow him to shift, essentially making him human. “We wanted this to be peaceful. But since that will never work for you, I guess it’s come to this.”

“Go ahead, kill me.” That is what he wants. But I won’t be a killer. Especially not for him.

“I’m going to do worse than that.” I don’t know if what I am about to attempt is possible, but I believe it is, and that is how my magic has worked up to this point so I keep going with it. I pull at the bond that makes a werewolf what they are. There really isn’t a distinction between a were of his ‘human’ and ‘wolf’ sides. They are one in the same. But in this case the bond appears clearly to me. On Derek it is a thrumming silver, on Deucalion is it void of color. Not even black, just no color whatsoever. I pull it and I tug, and rip it, until finally it gives. I cut him off from the wolf. He is human now, he will never feel the wolf beneath his skin again. I feel faint and right before I fall, Derek is there catching me. He must have broken through the mountain ash barrier. The last thing I see before I pass out are his beautiful amethyst eyes. 

…

When I wake I am in Derek’s arms and the whole pack is surrounding me. I have a major headache, but instantly it starts to ease and I can see the black lines racing up Derek’s arm. “Stop that.” I bat his arm away, and instantly regret it. My head is really pounding. Then Isaac is reaching over and doing the same. 

“Just let us take care of you for once. Really, you are such a mom.”

“Dad. I’m a dude.” My head is still fuzzy and getting pain sucked from you is like being on the best pain meds. At least in my experience. 

“Whatever, go back to sleep. It’s like the middle of the night.” Isaac lifted one eyelid to look at me and closes it again scooting in closer to the side opposite Derek, making sure to keep a hold on my arm as he leached the pain from me. I really want to tell him to stop, but then another pack member will just pick it up. And the process wills start again, and I don’t have the energy to start again.

Derek puts a straw to my lips. “Drink slowly.” And it’s then that I realize my throat is unbearably dry, so I sip gently and he lets me drink about half the bottle of water before pulling it away. “The pack got your dad, Mellissa, and Chris out before the root cellar collapsed, and they are sleeping upstairs. The pack wouldn’t let me take you to our bedroom, so that’s why we are on the floor.” He looks like there is something he wants to ask me but looks hesitant to do it.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Derek. I know you better than that. Just ask, I won’t hide anything from you, you know that.”

“What you did to Deucalion, you didn’t kill him. You took his wolf.”

“I won’t be a killer. I agree with what your mother said. Just because I have the power to do that, doesn’t mean I should. But I couldn’t just let him go, he would be a danger to everyone. So I severed the bond he had to that part of himself. It may be cruel, but he won’t be able to hurt anyone by supernatural means ever again. No one can heal that wound, and he can’t be bitten again, because technically, he is still a werewolf. Just no perks.”

He nuzzles in closer to me and a tremor passes through his body, I can feel his erection pressing into my back. “Sometimes I forget how powerful you truly are.”

“You know that it’s not all me. I draw strength from the pack, from you. As a True Alpha, you have much more power than anyone thinks. You may not have been as strong as Kali, but that is because she committed an atrocity. The power you hold is pure, and since I am Mated to you, that gives me power. The fact that our pack is so large, and that we are all so close only adds to that. By myself, I wouldn’t have been able to do half the things I did tonight. At least not without killing myself. As it was, dewolfing Duke took all of my reserves. That’s why I passed out. But I am recharging now.”

“Still, you are capable of so much, and I am grateful to have you with me.”

I am too tired to say much more. “Ditto.” I don’t know what lies ahead for us. The pack is mostly stable. The new additions of Ethan and Aiden will probably cause a few ripples, but I know that we will be stronger for it. The Alphas are gone, but there are other dangers out there. I mean there is a whole Bestiary for a reason. I know we will handle whatever comes our way, and we will do it together. Until then, I am going to bask in the feeling of pack, and the knowledge that we are all alive and have so much to look forward to.

“I love you.” His lips tease the back of my neck as his nose slots into the space behind my ear giving us both some much needed comfort.

“Love you too sourwolf.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I changed, like, everything. In finding the Nematon I wanted to make it similar to what the show did, but I added a whole lot more. I really wanted to add the twins to the pack and I like the way I did it. Hope you do too. Stiles and Derek aren't killers. They would if there was no other way, but in this case there was. Also I wanted to demonstrate another way for Stiles's powers to be used. That his barriers can protect more than just people and that his power to see and touch bonds can do harm as well. Any combination of powers can be deadly, but Stiles's especially. Also I had to add in the corny bits because that is such a Stiles thing to do.
> 
> I know the ending was kind of sudden, and that I left a lot open, but I did that on purpose. Mostly because of my plan to do the series of one-shots, but also because there is a lot that can happen after this story it over. The epilogue will take place ten years from this point. It won't really be a story, so much as explaining where everyone is in their lives at that point. For any details you guys would like to see that aren't shown, let me know. They will be added to the one-shot series that I will be working at periodically for a long time to come.
> 
> Thanks for all the support and please let me know what you all think of what I have done! Love to hear your feedback!


	13. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I couldn't wait for tomorrow to share this with you! Happy New Year!!!!!

After all the drama with the Alpha pack, things leveled out for us. Don’t get me wrong, we still had to deal with our fair share of supernatural creatures trying to either encroach on our territory and random passerbys that liked to cause trouble. But we managed to get through the last two years of high school pretty much unscathed. I can’t believe it’s been ten years already since I found out about this side of life. Ten years. It may seem like a long time, but really, it has gone by so fast. 

Cora got enrolled for school and finished our junior year out with us. Between her own smarts, Derek, Lydia, and I, we managed to get her up to speed with where she needed to be. After she woke up from her poisoning, she really became a member of the pack. She told the others what happened to her, and really embraced pack life. She took Peter’s old room after Derek, her, and I cleaned it out. It was a somber affair, but we tried to keep it light and told stories about him, both good and bad.

After high school college came. Boyd, Erica, Cora, and I stayed in town and went to the community college in the next town over. I went for criminal justice, and then enrolled in the police academy so I could join the force with my dad. He was both proud and nervous to have me, but I think he enjoyed bossing me around now that I don’t live at home. But I only lasted there for a few years. Then a young girl, well fifteen year old girl, with the Gift showed up on our door step and it was clear what my calling truly was. Training her and holding down a full time job was proving too much for me. So I quit the force, and delved right into the role of teacher. Since her, I have trained about eight people. Most of them stay for about a year to gain what I consider a full education. That first girl I taught became very close to many of the pack members. She is now the emissary for a pack in northern Washington. While the Gifted is training with me, they stay in the house, and temporarily join the pack. Not all have gone off to find a wolf pack to work with, but after being a part of what we are, I think most of them try. 

Derek and I finally got married on the five year anniversary of our consummation of the Mate bond, and I became Stiles Hale. I think dad was kind of sad to see me take his name, but it was important to me to keep the name alive. There can never be enough Hales in the world. Derek keeps saying that it was only for insurance and other paperwork reasons, but he is the one who got down on one knee in the middle of our clearing. The pack all thinks that I am the one who popped the question and we are okay letting them think that, but Derek really, at heart, is a big romantic. We have received another gift to our lives. Right after we were married the talk of children came up. And we both agreed that it was time. Derek owned his own company and I was working with the future of our magical world. When she heard that we were looking for a surrogate, my first student volunteered most adamantly, and I can’t say that I would have rather had anyone else. She is still a major part of Claudia and Laura’s lives. Claudia was born a werewolf, and even at the age of four, we can tell that she will be Derek’s heir as Alpha. She is strong willed and in most cases can only be subdued by Derek, myself, or Laura. Laura has shown that she might possess the Gift. She has yet to show any outright power, but I can feel it in her, and know that someday she will be just as strong, if not stronger, than myself. We love our girls dearly, and have recently been thinking of adding another child to our family. I know Derek wants more and really I wouldn’t mind, I just don’t want us to overwhelm ourselves. I mean we are only thirty-two and twenty-six after all. Still plenty of time for more pups.

Word of what I had done to Deucalion, and how we managed the Alpha pack along with a Darach, spread like wildfire. I think it kept many unwanted visitors from coming, but I also think it drew some in. I had a coven of witches try to sacrifice me to harvest my power once. I say try, because after I had them all dopey and smiley, Derek ripped their leader’s throat out, and that scared the others off.

Cora showed an interest in animal care, so she transferred to a college not too far away to become a vet. Deaton had already offered her a position as soon as she graduated, and she put in many hours of apprenticeship with him. I think when he retires he is going to leave the business with her. Deaton managed to stay out of the supernatural world, much like he was doing before Scott was turned all those years ago. Sometimes I still have questions for him, but those are becoming far and few between as I have been building contacts all over the country with packs and others with the Gift.

Boyd went to college more for the experience than the necessity. He started working at the same garage Derek was working at in high school and is still working there now. But it has gained new ownership. It only took about two years of working there before Derek decided to use some of the pack money to buy the shop. He kept the name, so Jim’s Auto Repair is now a pack business. Erica got a degree in accounting and manages all the office work, while Boyd runs the shop. Derek still works part time, but his hands are full with other things at the moment as he is home taking care of the twins. So do Boyd and Erica. They got married right out of high school and had Vernon Boyd V. He is nine now. A wolf. Then there’s Damian, their seven year old, a human, and Rosalie their five year old daughter, also a wolf. They are not the only pack members with kids but they were the first. And it’s been a wild ride.

Lydia and Jackson went to the east coast for school. Lydia MIT of course. It’s actually thanks to them that we have a strong alliance with a pack out there. They are about the same size as ours is, and we have helped each other on many occasions. I even helped to train their emissary. He was still a bit green and was kind of learning by himself, so when I made the offer, his pack jumped at the chance. Lydia now works for a big company out of her home. When I asked what she does she started talking in math mumbo jumbo that to this day I still can’t understand. Jackson went to work with his father, at his father’s law firm. Good to have a lawyer in the pack. They only just got married two years ago. Lydia wanted to wait until they were both done with school and had stable jobs. Their daughter Violet is a year old and she is just as beautiful as her parents. Lydia was worried about her being a wolf, but she worried for nothing. Violet is completely human, except for the fact that she might be a Banshee, but that will be years before we are able to tell that. Lydia did get a handle on her powers, and it’s a good thing too. They have saved us from many near death experiences. 

Danny took the bite after college. He went to medical school and became a pediatrician. I think he wanted the bite so he would be able to help the kids more than he could as a human. He specializes in kids with terminal diseases. After he received the bite, he married Ethan. Ethan riddled with the guilt of his actions with the Alpha pack went looking for penance. He formed this strange bond with Mellissa and became a nurse to help others. A few years ago we got wind of some Hunters in the area causing trouble for a nearby pack that had settled in, and when we got there it was chaos. It took a few days to take care of them, but when the dust settled there was only one surviving member of their pack. She was an eight year old named Natalie. Danny and Ethan only took two seconds to ask her into their family and into our pack. She’s twelve now and they too have been talking about trying to have a child the way Derek and I did. They know that I would be more than willing to perform the spell, and now with me teaching we have many contacts that would be willing to surrogate for them.

Sadly Scott left the pack a few years after we all graduated college. He told me before he left that he never really felt part of the pack, and honestly, he didn’t quite feel that he wanted to be either. He moved to Nevada and joined a pack out there. We stay in touch with each other and see each other on holidays, mostly because our parents finally got together three years after the whole Alpha pack fiasco. He found a mate and they have a three year old son who is a wolf. I can still tell that there are days he wished that Peter had never bitten him, but then all he has to do is think about his son and those thoughts are gone.

Isaac and Allison had somewhat of a rocky relationship. I thought that after the Alpha pack that they would have become an item almost instantly. But if anything it pushed them apart. I can’t say that Scott didn’t use that to his advantage, because he did try to win Allison back, but it didn’t work. But the fact that he tried drove somewhat of a wedge between the couple. It wasn’t until junior year of college that they finally got their heads out of their asses and made it happen. Mostly under threat of myself and Erica. I swear if I had to hear either of them moon over each other one more day I was going to lose it. And when they are two of my three best friends, well the sexual tension was so thick I you had to use a bread knife to saw into that shit. They were married right after college and both started on vastly different career paths. 

Allison came with me to work as a deputy at the Sheriff’s office, and I have it on good authority that she is going to run for Sheriff when my dad finally retires next year. Isaac became a second grade school teacher. He is probably the best with any of the kids, my own included. He is truly one of the gentlest people I know, but also one of the scariest. A few years ago a marauding pack came into our territory and thought he would try to take it over. He took Derek by surprise and knocked him unconscious before we even knew what was happening. I barely had time to raise shield against the Alpha before Isaac had ripped out his throat. The red eyes looked so strange on Isaac, and he could have gone off to start his own pack, but not even two hours later, I was preforming the same ritual I had on the twins years before to give the power to the pack and move back down to Beta status. After that Derek and his brotherly bond only got stronger, and often Allison and I are left with the kids while they go off and do Gods know what. They have two beautiful children. Miranda and Camden. Miranda is five and a wolf, while Camden is two and human. I’m not sure if they will have more, but I know that Allison doesn’t like to be off of work for too long. I also think that it was pretty progressive of Isaac to take her last name rather than the more ‘traditional’ way. They fought over it for a long time, Allison wanting to take his name and Isaac refusing. He told her that if she kept the Argent name going then it will still strike a certain amount of fear into the hearts of those who would mean us harm. And I can’t say that he is wrong. While we still have our fair share of supernatural troubles, the number of Hunters that have come to our area is somewhat low. They tend to pass us right by. They still fight sometimes about some of the most absurd things, but then so do Derek and I.

Aiden and Cora had lots of hate sex our senior year of high school. I mean lots, so much that even us humans could smell them on each other. They acted as though they couldn’t stand each other, but they were almost always all over each other when they thought no one was looking. Aiden is a part of the pack and is always back for the major drama that happens, and every month for the full moon and pack night, but he usually doesn’t stay in one place for too long. When he is in town he works at the shop and picks up a few babysitting shifts so the rest of us parents can have date nights. He and Cora still deny that they are together but we all know differently. If they don’t settle down soon, I may have to intervene a bit. Derek doesn’t want me to, but we all know that I always get what I want in the end.

A lot has happened in our past, and now we are raising the next generation of the Hale pack to carry on. I don’t know where life will take us, but we are together and strong and in the end, isn’t that all the matters. We are truly happy, in every sense of the word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there it is. That's the last chapter to this series! I can't believe I actually did it. I have written other things before these fics, but I have never finished one. I have so many feels for the characters and So much more to say, but not in this fic. 
> 
> In my cannon Derek and Stiles do have more kids. Having twins conceived the way they are rarely results in twins. They were only expecting one kid the first time around, but is speaks to how powerful they are that they manage twins not only the first time but the second as well. I am not sure of when but they will have another girl and a boy. Talia and Peter. Both wolves. Not sure about the others, Ethan and Danny probably have one kid other than their adoptive daughter. 
> 
> I have not really ever liked Scott's character, so to me it made sense that he leaves the pack to join another. I have a scene for the one-shots of Scott and Stiles talking about Scott's decision to leave, so you will get to know the details of that.
> 
> The other scenes I have planned are the following.
> 
> -Peter/Jackson talk before Peter gives him the bite.  
> -Stiles letter from his mother for his 18th birthday.  
> -A pack gathering far into the future with multiple generations present.  
> -Derek and Stiles talk about having kids after they are married.  
> -The birth of Talia and Peter.  
> -Stiles getting his first student and his decision to leave the force.  
> -How Natalie joins the pack.  
> -the marauding pack and Isaac's rise and fall from Alpha status.
> 
> I want to know what else you guys what to see. I might think of some other things, but right now this is what I got. So if there is something you want to know about or see let me know! Also I am going to write this all from Derek's point of view after I finish the fic I am working on now. So any scenes with him should wait until I pass the point of when they occur in his fic, or after his story is posted. ^_^
> 
> His Series will be called  
> -How could I expect the Unexpected.  
> -Unexpected Mate (First installment)
> 
> Also the next fic I am working on is called -Anywhere Place-. I am hoping to have it almost finished by February or March but I make no promises. It is the first entirely AU fic that I am writing so the words come a little slower sometimes
> 
> Lastly I want to thank all of you who have followed me through this five month journey. Five months and over 200,000 words! You have been amazing readers and I can't thank you enough for all the support and kind words you have bestowed upon me. My gratitude is literally endless! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Until next time...

**Author's Note:**

> I am already making changes. Tell me what you think! 
> 
> Also I will be doing a series of one shots after I finish the story. They won't be out like regular updates, just when ever i get around to writing them. But I want to know what you would like to see in them. They should be scenes that don't include Stiles or Derek, because Stiles parts are already told, and Derek's will be told when I get to writing this fic from his point of view. But I would be open to writing future scenes that won't happen in this fic. I will say the Epilogue will take place 10 years after the end of this story.
> 
> The ones I already have planned are:
> 
> -Jackson taking the bite from Peter  
> -Stiles' letter from his mother for when he turns 18
> 
> I am not sure what else to write, so if there is a scene you would like to see, let me know and I will do my best to write it for you!


End file.
